More tourists in S'pore

More tourists in S'pore

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's tourist arrivals in January-June increased 5.1 percent over the same period last year to 3.55 million, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) said yesterday.

Arrivals in June alone grew 6.8 percent year-on-year to 586,973, boosted by school holidays in Malaysia and Indonesia and a series of promotional events here including an arts festival and the Great Singapore Sale in which retailers offered hefty discounts to customers.

Japan was the biggest tourism market for Singapore in the first half of the year, sending 563,291 visitors to the city- state, the STPB said in a statement.

Indonesia was a close second, accounting for 502,372 arrivals, followed by Malaysia with 343,922, Taiwan with 262,952, South Korea with 208,966, the United States with 190,081, Australia with 164,647, Britain with 147,814, Hong Kong with 139,556 and Thailand with 130,441.

June saw the Philippines emerge as a top visitor-generating market for Singapore when the number of Filipino visitors surged 33.4 percent over the same month a year ago to 11,725.