Singapore tourist arrivals increase

Singapore tourist arrivals increase

SINGAPORE (AFP): Tourist arrivals in Singapore showed a modest rise in October, ending three consecutive months of decline, the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (STPB) said yesterday.

The STPB said 600,912 visitors came here during the month, 2.1 percent over October 1995, with eight of its 12 largest tourist- generating markets posting an increase.

The number of visitors from Japan rose 1.4 percent to 88,761 and Indonesia 7.8 percent to 86,436.

Arrivals from Hong Kong were 18.8 percent up to 21,742 on the back of a strong surge in the holiday and "visiting friends and relatives" segments in the run-up to the territory's 1997 handover to mainland China, the STPB said.

South Korean arrivals rose 19.1 percent to 25,995 on the back of a strong increase in the honeymoon traffic. But the number of visitors from neighboring Malaysia fell 2.5 percent to 56,308, pulled down by a decrease in holiday traffic.

The October numbers took to 6.01 million the number of tourists visiting Singapore in the first 10 months of the year, a 1.6-percent increase over January-October 1995.

The STPB has cut its tourist growth forecast for the year to two percent from three-to-five percent anticipated earlier after arrivals declined during July, August and September.