Singapore - Singapore's ailing tourism industry plummeted
further in May as hotel room revenue fell a heavy 37.7 per cent
compared to a year earlier and the number of visitor arrivals was
back to a double-digit decline, the Singapore Tourism Board said
Friday.
In May, hotel room revenue in the city-state reached an estimated
112 million Singapore dollars (77 million US dollars), down from
180 million Singapore dollars a year ago.
Total visitor arrivals came up to 730,000, a decline of 13 per
cent compared to May 2008.
In April the number of visitor arrivals shrank just 6.1 per cent
following three months of double-digit slumps, raising hopes that the
worst might be over for Singapore's tourism sector, which has been
hit hard by the global economic downturn.
But the board said tourist numbers from Asian markets like China,
Japan and South Korea fell sharply in May, attributing the decline in
part to the global outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus.
Singapore confirmed 95 new cases of H1N1 Thursday, bringing the
total number to 315.
Among Singapore's top 15 tourist markets only Vietnam,
Malaysia and the Philippines posted growth in May, due to 'aggressive
airline and marketing promotions,' the board said.
Hotel business continued to drop with an average room occupancy
rate reaching 69 per cent in May, a fall of 12.2 percentage points
compared to a year ago.
The average room rate reached an estimated 184 Singapore dollars,
down 25.4 per cent from May 2008, the board said.
dpa kpo se
260829 GMT Jun 09
Sent via WebAccess by Portmann MEZ 26-06-2009_10:44
USA
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