In 2019, 50% of international visitors to Singapore visited Gardens by the Bay, an urban park in the Marina Bay precinct. The park includes three waterfront gardens: Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central. This is followed by the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) integrated resorts. International visitor numbers to these attractions were expected to plummet in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2019 was the most recent year for data, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought international tourism to a halt in 2020 and 2021.
Industry comes to a halt
Singapore confirmed its first COVID-19 cases by the end of January 2020. As the number of cases began to rise sharply around April, the government introduced and enforced strict lockdowns and other safety measures and policies. Since then, travel to Singapore has been restricted and the number of flights to Singapore has dropped significantly. The reduction in flight numbers has translated into a decline in the number of monthly international visitors to Singapore, which is unfortunate for businesses that rely on tourism activity, further impacting the tourism industry and its contribution to Singapore’s GDP.
Supporting the tourism industry through domestic demand
The Singapore government planned to distribute SingapoRediscovers vouchers worth S$100 per citizen to support businesses most affected by the pandemic, such as hotels, attractions and tours. The SingapoRediscovers initiative is backed by S$230 million worth of credits set aside to support the tourism industry. But with Singapore’s significantly smaller national population, it will do little to make up for the loss of international visitors, who were about five times more numerous than residents before the pandemic.
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