The data was provided by the Singapore Tourism Board and indicated that an increase in spending on entertainment, sightseeing and gaming made up for a loss seen in spending on accommodations, shopping, eating and drinking.
The numbers show that revenues from entertainment, sightseeing and gaming provided 22% of the total revenue. This put it in a tie with shopping for the second-most important tourism-spending component for the first quarter of the year.
There are two casino resorts in Singapore—Marina Bay Sands, which is operated by Las Vegas Sands, and Resorts World Sentosa, a Genting Singapore property.
Around 4.6 million tourists visited the country during the first quarter of the year, an increase of 7.3% over the same period in 2017. Approximately 933,000 of these visited from China, representing an increase of 10% year-on-year. 747,000 came from Indonesia for a 4% increase and 295,000 were from India—22% more than what was seen in the period in 2017.
For the entire first half of 2018, 9.2 million tourists visited the country, according to government data. This was 7.6% more than the amount seen last year during the same period.
Singapore set a record last year in tourist volume when it welcomed 17.4 million tourists. This was an increase of 6.2% over the previous year and included 3.23 million trips by Chinese visitors.
Source: GMB / Calvin Ayre
