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.