Tourist arrivals drop 5.3%

Tourist arrivals drop 5.3%

SINGAPORE (AFP): Visitor arrivals in Singapore fell 5.3
percent from a year earlier to 506,950 in November with the
number of tourists from Southeast Asia falling markedly, the
Singapore Tourism Board said Monday.

Arrivals from member-states of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) fell 16.7 percent as the region remained in
the grip of a deep economic slump triggered by the currency
crisis which erupted in mid-1997.

The board attributed the big regional decline to a 27.1
percent fall in arrivals from Malaysia, the largest drop to date,
as travelers from the neighboring country continued to spend
their holidays at home.

Persistent social problems and the economic malaise
surrounding Indonesia also deterred travelers, the board said.

In Thailand, however, a gradually stabilizing currency
encouraged traffic to show continued growth for the fourth month
running, rising 10.9 percent in November.