Haze cuts tourist visits to Singapore

Haze cuts tourist visits to Singapore

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Tourist arrivals in Singapore slipped
sharply in October because of smog that has enveloped Southeast
Asia in recent months, state television said yesterday.

The television quoted the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as
saying tourist numbers fell 17.6 percent last month. It gave no
detailed figures.

The TV report said the STB did not expect tourist arrivals to
pick up any time in the near future.

The STB was not immediately available for comment.

The onset of the northern hemisphere winter has brought
monsoon rains in recent days, clearing Singapore's skies of the
smog, caused by forest fires and land burning in Indonesia.

The outlook for Singapore's tourism industry was still hazy
for coming months, the TV report said, adding that negative
worldwide publicity over the smog had hit tourism throughout
Southeast Asia.

Indonesian, Thai and Malaysian visitors stayed away from
Singapore because of flight cancellations due to low visibility
from the smog and due to the regional currency crisis that has
depressed the value of their currencies, state television said.

The Singapore dollar has slipped in past months but not as
badly as the currencies of its neighbors, making it a relatively
more expensive destination.