Singapore tourist arrivals fall

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg): Singapore tourist arrivals fell 11.7 percent in August from a year earlier, as recessions in Asian countries kept people home, the Singapore Tourism Board said.

The number of visitors fell to 569,916 as "economic recession continued to dampen arrivals," the Board said.

In August, the board warned that the number of visitors to the island state may fall 15 percent to 20 percent this year.

Singapore received more than 7 million tourists last year, double its population.

The plunge in arrivals reflects the recessions that Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Hong Kong are mired it, and is likely to hurt an already cooling retail industry in Singapore.

Consumer spending, much of it by tourists, accounts for more than a quarter of Singapore's economy. Tourists from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan account for about two-fifths of Singapore's visitors.

Tourist spending on shopping last year shrank 18 percent to S$2.44 billion (US$1.45 billion), while the island's state retail sales has shrunk for ten months in a row.