Singapore: A record number of visitors came to Singapore last year as new facilities lured tourists, the tourism authority said yesterday.
Visitor arrivals rose to 13.2 million, up 13 per cent from 2010, the Tourism Board said in a statement. About 2.6 million Indonesians visited Singapore last year, followed by tourists from China, Malaysia and Australia.
Tourism industry revenue jumped 17 per cent to a record S$22.2 billion (Dh65.36 billion), the board said. Revenue from sightseeing and entertainment, which includes gambling, soared 37 per cent to S$5.5 billion.
Visitor arrivals have more than doubled since 2003 and tourism has become a key economic growth driver for the city-state of five million people. The government expects the economy, which also relies on manufacturing and finance, to expand as little as one per cent this year, down from 4.8 per cent last year.
Key draw
France is the world's most visited country by international tourists with 77 million in 2010, followed by the US with 60 million.
Singapore's world-class shopping malls used to be the key tourist draw but its first two casino resorts have helped attract visitors since they opened in 2010, particularly from neighbouring Asian countries.
Arrivals from China surged 35 per cent in 2011, the first full year the casinos were operating.
The government has sought to keep Singapor-eans out of the casinos, imposing a S$100 entry fee on citizens. Regulators this week fined Las Vegas Sands Corp's Marina Bay Sands S$255,000 and Genting Singapore Ltd's Resorts World Sentosa S$130,000 for breaking admission rules such as allowing Singapor-eans to enter the casinos without paying the entry levies.
