Singapore tourism drops 4.3 per cent, hotels take hit

Tourist arrivals in Singapore fell 4.3 per cent in 2009 to 9.7 million, the city-state's tourism board said Tuesday. Hotels were hit hard as visitors stayed away due to the economic recession and the H1N1 flu outbreak.

A strong rebound in the last quarter allowed for a "very credible" performance over the whole year, tourism board chief executive Aw Kah Peng said. Visitor arrivals for the month of December reached a record 971,000.

However, tourism receipts over the year were estimated at 12.4 billion Singapore dollars (8.7 billion US dollars), down 19 per cent from a year earlier, the board said.

Hotels were hit hard as the average room rate fell 22.3 per cent to 191 Singapore dollars. Average revenue per hotel room - including rooms that remained vacant - was down 26.6 per cent to 146 Singapore dollars in 2009.



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