India key source market for Singapore cruise industry

India was the second most tourist-generating market for Singapore in 2022 with 686,000 Indians visiting the country, whose cruise industry has seen a significant recovery post-Covid-19 pandemic. In total, tourists visiting Singapore reached 6.3 million in 2022, exceeding the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) forecast of 4-6 million following a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The Indian market is an important source for our cruise industry," Minister in charge of Trade Relations and Transport S Iswaran told PTI on Wednesday.

"Together with Singapore tourism partners, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is looking forward to welcoming our Indian friends to experience our new and transformed attractions and experiences, and reimagine what a completely enjoyable family vacation can be," said STB.

The top tourist-generating market was Indonesia with 1.1 million visitors. India was among the second most tourist-generating markets for Singapore in 2022 with 686,000 visitors followed by 591,000 visitors from Malaysia, the city-state's immediate neighbour, it said.

Indian tourists were also the second-highest spenders in Singapore after Indonesia and Australia in the first nine months of 2022.

"As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore's cruise industry is recovering well in tandem with global travel. Last year, a total of 1.2 million passengers passed through Singapore's ports, which is about two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels," said Iswaran.

Cruise passengers in Singapore have also doubled from about 900,000 in 2012 to more than 1.8 million in 2019.

"This bodes well for the industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels soon," he said. "Collaboration between cruise lines, STB and the Changi Airport Group has also seen an increase in the number of fly-cruise visitors to Singapore," said Iswaran, elaborating on the cruise sector growth here.

Singapore Tourism Board also launched a campaign promoting the Disney Cruise Line and welcoming Indians to experience a reimagined enjoyable family vacation. Meanwhile, Singapore's tourism receipts are estimated to reach SGD 13.8 billion (USD 10.3 billion) to SGD 14.3 billion (USD 10.7 billion) in 2022 - about 50 to 52 per cent of 2019 levels, according to figures released by STB earlier this year.

In the first nine months of 2022, receipts came up to an estimated SGD 8.96 billion (USD 6.7 billion). As a long-term campaign to boost tourism, the STB has agreed to collaborate with homeport, a brand-new Disney cruise ship exclusively in Singapore for at least five years beginning in 2025.

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