Singapore saw a 16% increase in cruise passenger throughput in 2016 with 1.2m cruise passengers at its two cruise terminals.
This was on the back of a 7% increase in ship calls which rose from 385 to 411. Ten of these were maiden calls.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) highlighted the numbers at a press briefing to announce its report card for 2016, which showed record tourism sector performance.
Both overall visitor arrivals and tourism receipts exceeded forecasts to hit historical highs in 2016.
While overall visitor arrivals to Singapore grew by 7.7% to 16.4m, tourism receipts rose even higher by 13.9% representing $24.8bn.
The strong tourism receipt results came on the back of visitors spending more on food and beverage, shopping and accommodation, noted STB.
For the second consecutive year, China (+41%) ranked top in tourism receipts, followed by India (+37%) and Indonesia (+14%). China increased mainly due to a volume-driven growth while Indonesia and India saw tourism receipts growing on the back of visitors spending more on shopping and accommodation.
Visitors from India constituted the top cruise arrival market, growing some 29%.
According to STB, there were around 100,000 cruise passengers from India. Generally, Indian visitors to Singapore are leisure family travellers with keen interest in sightseeing and attractions. Many of these who were from both Tier 1 and 2 Indian cities were early-career types interested in shopping and food and beverages. They relied highly on travel agents for bookings.
Singapore’s enhanced connectivity also had an impact on tourism, with direct flights to Dusseldorf, Germany which began mid-2016. There were 56,000 cruise guests from Germany, accounting for a 55% growth from that source market.
Some of STB’s key initiatives in 2016 to enhance destination attractiveness included tapping on the ‘Cruise Southeast Asia’ brand initiative to strengthen brand recall for regional cruising. Singapore and Indonesian tourism authorities signed MOUs to develop tourism, including cruises, between the countries.
STB won Destination of the Year 2016 at the Seatrade Cruise Awards.
Other partnerships and collaborations with industry partners resulted in cruise packages being sold by 14 partners in five markets. This resulted in some 10,000 passengers for Singapore, the majority buying three- to five-night pre- and post-cruise stays, while partners saw double–digit year-over-year growth in sales. STB also reported Singapore’s Cruise Development Fund Enhanced scheme successfully supported five charters with about 9,000 passengers.
STB chief executive Lionel Yeo said: ‘We will continue to work closely with tourism partners to intensify our efforts and sustain quality tourism growth.’
