S'pore visitor arrivals up 3%

S'pore visitor arrivals up 3%

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Singapore's tourist arrivals rose 3 percent to 656,840 from a year earlier, but fell 5 percent on month on a decline in the number of holiday visitors from Indonesia and Japan, the Singapore Tourism Board, or STB, said Monday.

The number of visitors from Indonesia -- the top visitor- generating country -- fell 22.6 percent on year to 115,699. This included a 40.9 percent on-year drop in holiday visitors, due to the shift in the local religious holiday period this year, the tourism board said.

The board attributed the overall decline in visitor arrivals from Japan to cautious consumer sentiment, stemming from the fragile Japanese economy.

Holiday visitors from Japan fell 12.2 percent, while business-related arrivals fell 13.2 percent, from 2000.

Overall, visitor arrivals from Japan in January 2001 declined 9.5 percent to 65,293 from last year.

However, visitors from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan recorded the highest growth, due to the week-long Chinese New Year holidays in these countries, which boosted travel, said STB.