Indians among the top three spenders in Singapore

SINGAPORE: Indians were among the top three spenders in Singapore during their visit here in the first quarter of this year, Singapore Tourism Board said today.

But spending by the Indians during the quarter was off by 3 per cent on the year at SGD284 million due to a fall in arrivals and less per capita expenditure of leisure visitors, the board said.

The Indian tourist arrivals in Singapore was 65,557 in January which is down by 7.9 per cent a year ago.

In February, 62,999 Indian tourists visited Singapore, which was 5.6 per cent better than a year ago, and in March the number was 70,472 visitors, unchanged from March 2013.

In April, 79,522 Indian tourists visited Singapore, up by 4.5 per cent on the year.

But the expenditure of these visitors was outside the quarterly report.

Overall, Singapore's tourism receipts or earnings during the first quarter grew by 5 per cent on the year to SGD6 billion from 3.9 million international tourist visitors, which STB said was steady compared to a year ago.

China topped the list of tourism receipt-generating markets in the first quarter with SGD800 million spent by 557,466 Chinese tourists who visited Singapore during that period.

Indonesia was second with SGD658 million spend by the country's 749,389 visitors to the city state during the January-March 2014 period, the board said.