SINGAPORE – Singapore is turning to domestic tourism as its borders remain largely closed to foreign visitors due to the coronavirus.
“Singapore’s tourism sector has been greatly affected by this pandemic,” Chaly Mah, chairman of the Singapore Tourism Board, said, on the sidelines of the Singapore summit on Tuesday.
Singapore started the year strong with 1. 69 million visitors in January, up from 1. 62 million in the same month the previous year. However, when the government tried to control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, restrictions were imposed. Immigration controls have reduced the numbers by about 99% year-over-year in recent months, he said.
“Since we are a small country and do not have the merit of domestic travel, what we are looking to do now is inspire Singaporeans to some of our local tourist attractions,” Mah said.
The government seeks to fill a component of the tourism profit hole by encouraging the Sinholeoreans to the attractions of their own country.
Singapore’s travelers generated about $34 billion ($25 billion) in foreign tourism spending in 2018, the tourism board told CNBC. The purpose is to capture about 10% of this number of domestic travelers, Mah told CNBC “Street Signs”.
Tourists who arrived in Singapore spent S$27. 7 billion ($20. 4 billion) on profits here last year, according to Singapore data.
The Singapore Tourism Board presented the SingaporeRediscovers crusade in July to inspire Singaporeans to spend on hotels and attractions.
The government also announced that it will distribute S$320 million in “tourist credits” to citizens to increase local spending on domestic travel.
“The concept is for Singaporeans and local citizens to some of our local tourist sites and rediscover Singapore,” Mah said.
“So we can have an original delight for our tourists in Singapore, we want to give our own Singaporeans some of those local attractions so they can tell an original story when they tell it to tourists,” he added.
There are many attractions and reports in the country that “Singaporeans assume they have never visited,” Mah said.
He added that the tourist needs to repair traffic to cruise ships.
“Since our borders are still closed, the concept of a flight nowhere, a cruise anywhere is an attractive concept for a small city-state like Singapore,” Mah said. Singapore Airlines is said to be flights nowhere.
Meanwhile, Singapore has established reciprocal greenway agreements with several countries, in addition to China and Malaysia, which are currently primarily aimed at companies and individuals.
The city-state will slowly reopen its borders to more travelers in a “deliberate and calibrated” way, Mah said.
– Correction: This story has been modified to reflect that Singapore travelers spent $34 billion on foreign tourism-related expenses in 2018, not in 2019 The subject of the interview was mis-expressed. It has also been corrected to explain the position of the tourist workplace in the cruise and cruise industry nowhere.
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