China travellers keen to ‘revenge travel’, tour agencies expecting spike in demand with Singapore visa exemption

Managing director of Oriental Travel Stanley Foo told CNA that the agency has been badly affected by the drop in Chinese visitors. It saw a 50 per cent decrease in bookings from Chinese visitors, compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This group used to make up about 30 to 40 per cent of the tour agency’s bookings, but the figure now stands at less than 10 per cent, he added. 

“I don’t really see them anymore, except for business travellers. The group travellers have really reduced dramatically,” said Mr Foo. 

“Pre-pandemic, tourists from China are the top three visitors coming to Singapore. So it’s definitely affecting the tourism industry in Singapore badly, without them. We need their money.” 

In the hour after the announcement of the visa exemption agreement, online travel booking platform Trip.com saw an 80 per cent increase in the search volume for deals in Singapore, said Ms Ru Yi, the company’s general manager for Singapore. 

Searches for flight tickets and hotels also increased by 90 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, she added, noting that from January to October, 1.13 million Chinese tourists arrived in Singapore, making China the second-largest source of inbound visitors to Singapore. 

Tour agencies and industry experts pointed to several factors as to why visitor numbers have yet to completely rebound. 

Malaysia and Thailand also recently granted Chinese tourists visa-free access, and this new agreement will make Singapore more competitive on this front, said Ngee Ann Polytechnic senior lecturer in tourism Michael Chiam. 

“The rate of recovery for Chinese arrivals depends on many factors, and they include foreign currency exchange rate and the rate of economic recovery of the Chinese market. Visa-free arrangements is just one of them,” he added. 

Mr Foo also pointed to the stiff competition from Singapore’s neighbours, noting that spending a night in Singapore could be equivalent to spending three nights in Malaysia or Thailand. 

“The prices of hotels went up dramatically, and this will affect a certain group of visitors,” he added, noting that the price increase was about 20 per cent across the board.