Singapore pushes for million visitors a year from India

According to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), the city-state is looking at continuing the four-year trend of having over a million visitor arrivals from India in the current year.

In 2018, for the fourth year in a row, India contributed more than a million visitor arrivals to Singapore
In 2018, for the fourth year in a row, India contributed more than a million visitor arrivals to Singapore. Photo: Connected to India

India is currently the third-largest source market for visitor arrivals to Singapore, a senior tourism board official said.

"It has been a soft year for Indian arrivals to Singapore. But the Singapore Tourism Board is working with airlines, travel agents and trade partners to finish the year on more than one million visitor arrivals again in 2019," STB's India, Middle East & South Asia Regional Director GB Srithar said.

In 2018, for the fourth year in a row, India contributed more than a million visitor arrivals to Singapore, he added.

When asked about the factors which make Singapore a preferred destination for visitors from India, he said both countries shared over five decades of very close socio-economic and political ties. A short flying time, good air connectivity with more than 200 weekly flights from India to Singapore, hassle-free convenient visa regime for Indian travellers and a very high brand affinity with the Indian consumers are some of the other reasons, he added.

The board is also working on soft connect such as for Bollywood movies, music videos projects and is also looking for innovative partnerships, Srithar said.

STB is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore.