The Southeast Asian city-state, long popular with Chinese tourists, hopes the deal will further boost its economy.
Early indicators suggest the visa waiver may already be paying off, but the apparent lack of activity at luxury boutiques points to a shift in tourist spending.
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Angel and her family, who are from southwestern China’s Yunnan province, were among the visitors who traveled during the holiday.
“We like Singapore because it’s close and convenient, and now we don’t need a visa so it’s easy,” she said, pictured with three giant Chinese dragon ornaments floating above the resort’s entrance. Angel said while waiting to be photographed.
The family has already visited Singapore several times and plans to return there in the future.
“We have already been to other neighboring countries, but we will continue to come back here because the prices are not as high as in Europe,” she added.
At ION Orchard, an upscale shopping mall along the city’s main shopping belt, travelers seemed to be more cost-conscious.
There were short lines at some high-end boutiques, but most customers showed up empty-handed. By contrast, mid-sized stores such as shoe brand Charles & Keith and his TWG, an upscale coffee shop chain, were crowded.
Adrian, a clerk at a luxury boutique, said, “About 70% of our customer traffic in the past two weeks has been from mainland China.” He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“But in my honest opinion, they are not buying as much as they were before COVID-19,” he added, saying this could be due to the weak Chinese economy and the appreciation of the Singapore dollar.
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Winter storm brings Chinese tourists to cold rain and snow ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations
Last year, Singapore recorded 1.36 million tourists from China, which was its biggest source of tourists before the pandemic, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Board. This is far from the 3.63 million Chinese who visited in 2019.
However, compared to far-flung places like Paris or Rome, Singapore is an easily accessible alternative with a reputation for cleanliness and good transport links.
A survey by marketing firm China Trading Desk on the most desired holiday destinations for Chinese people in 2023 took the top spot ahead of Europe, South Korea and Thailand.
Trip.com Singapore general manager Edmund Ong said bookings by Chinese travelers to Singapore during the Lunar New Year festival period surged 206 times compared to the same period last year.
He added that nearly half of these bookings were from families, with Singapore Zoo, Universal Studios Singapore theme park and city tours being the most popular attractions.
A travel agency director said bookings from China increased during the Christmas season, but not as much as expected.
Jasmine Lee, business development director at Hong Thai Travel, said: “As group sizes have shrunk, many ‘free and easy’ solo travelers prefer a do-it-yourself approach to using a travel agent. ”
Bookings from China now account for about 30% of her inbound business, up from 35% before the pandemic.
China hopes tourism will boost its economy. But what about foreign tourists?
China hopes tourism will boost its economy. But what about foreign tourists?
Chinese tourists have also been spotted in unexpected places, including at the city’s universities. Two of the schools have seen a spike in complaints about tourist groups coming to campus for tours and disrupting classes, and one of the schools said it plans to introduce a tour fee.
“I wanted to come to Singapore even before the visa waiver was announced. Singapore is convenient and very clean, so it didn’t make much of a difference,” said Dana, a first-time visitor from eastern Zhejiang province with her husband. said. and my two young sons went on a week’s vacation.
She said she has not yet decided when she will return.
“We’ll see how it goes. It’s still the first day so I don’t know much about the city. But so far I’m enjoying it and the people have been very welcoming,” she said. .