Report | Singapore is top Asia-Pacific destination for total expenditure

Tulip exhibition at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Singapore, Bangkok and Tokyo are the top three Asia Pacific destinations that have received the highest total expenditure from international tourists.

Singapore claimed the top spot for total expenditure at USD15.4 billion, followed by Bangkok at USD12.7 billion and USD11.1 billion in Tokyo, as indicated by

MasterCard in a report that was released last week.

Taipei and Seoul came in fourth and fifth with total expenditures at USD9.9 billion and USD9.4 billion respectively. Macau is amongst the top 20 destinations for tourists from Taiwan. Recent statistics show that package tour visitors from Taiwan rose by 11.2 percent year-on-year.

The report, which listed the top 20 destinations according to total spending by international tourists, indicated that five of the destinations commanded more than USD200 per day expenditure including Hong Kong, a city requiring some USD211 per day.

China is again the top source of tourists to Asia Pacific, increasing its share to 16.2 percent in 2016.

The country has become the top source of tourists to Asia Pacific since 2012 – where it contributed 9.9 percent of overnight arrivals.

Five of the top 20 origin markets are increasing by over 10 percent a year – Compound Annual Growth Rate basis (CAGR) – in terms of outbound growth rates to Asia Pacific destinations between 2009 and 2016.

In 2016, Asia Pacific’s top origin market for tourists, China, contributed 55 million overnight international arrivals, a 16.2 percent share of all tourists to the 171 destinations, the report revealed.

The country also contributed the highest number of total nights – 17.1 percent of that total – and expenditures that is 17.7 percent of the total to Asia Pacific.

Figures of outbound Chinese tourists to Asia Pacific has grown by 25.8 percent per year for the last seven years (CAGR basis) propelling it from the fifth most important contributor to Asia Pacific tourists in 2009 to the most important by 2012 where it has since retained its lead.

Meanwhile Singapore has overtaken its long-time competition Hong Kong, who ranked 10th in the MasterCard report in the category of “total expenditure by international tourists.”

David Scowsill, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council told CNBC, “the center of the universe is moving to Asia,” citing growing figures in the region.

“A lot of this [growth] is driven by China. The Chinese market has gone from 58 million (outbound trips) in 2010 to 135 million now,” the CEO recalled.

“I think the secret for both locations is they have to continue to reinvent themselves with new products so that visitors, particularly on the leisure side, come not once, not twice, but continually visit the location every three or four years,” Scowsill said.

The number of mainland Chinese tourists entering Hong Kong decreased by seven percent in February 2017. Yet Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong group is optimistic about the territory’s tourism numbers.

“I think that [tourism] seems to have bottomed out in Hong Kong at the moment […] but it is rising a bit,” Zeman said, adding that the under construction bridge between Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau would attract and connect more visitors.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Tourism Board is ensuring that it organizes a series of events throughout the year with a view to form strategic partnerships.

The board partners with Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines, allowing the authorities to market its city in a robust way.

“Partnerships with Changi Airport and Singapore Airlines allow us to go into the international marketing space in a much more concerted way and effective way,” Lionel Yeo, CEO of the Singapore Tourism Board, told the American media outlet.

“We also have very good partnerships with JTB in Japan and Flight Centre in Australia, and that’s helping us to drive tourists from those destinations as well,” Yeo added.

Changi Airport – which welcomes some 58.7 million passengers yearly – has been ranked the world’s best for five consecutive years.

This year, sporting events such as an international football champions cup will be held in the city for the first time, and mixed-martial arts showdown UFC Fight Night will be held in June.

The board is working to bring in such events – a move that Hong Kong chose not to make.

Although Hong Kong holds the annual Rugby Sevens that attracts a significant number of tourists, Zeman has stressed that the territory needs more such events.
“I think we need to look at having an event a month, and if we can, become the event capital of Asia,” he said. 

Macau’s tourism strategic plan

The region’s tourism board has been working on its master plan for the tourism sector and is aiming to finalize its Macau Tourism Industry Development Master Plan by July.

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) had previously announced that enhancing destination promotion is one of its four main focal points.

The Office has set a target to increase promotion in order to attract more tourists from mid-haul markets such as Malaysia and Indonesia this year, as announced by the bureau’s head Helena de Senna Fernandes earlier this year.

Just last month, MGTO held a tourism promotion event at Kuala Lumpur, showcasing Macau’s offerings.

In a bid to place the region on the map of world tourism, MGTO will seek to host major tourism-related conferences and exhibitions, such as the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart that will be held in the territory this September. The budget for 2017 will total MOP1.44 billion.