As its tourism begins to recover, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has announced that its forecast for international visitor arrivals are expected to between 4-6 million in 2022.

The city reopened its borders earlier this year and with global travel picking up pace, STB is seeing positive signs of recovery.

The tourist board said Singapore had clocked 1.5 million visitor arrivals, nearly 12 times more compared to the same period in 2021 (119,000), when the country’s borders were largely closed. Tourism receipts (TR) reached an estimated S$1.3 billion in the first quarter of the year. While these figures are a fraction of pre-pandemic numbers, STB said: “It remains of the view that tourism flows will recover to pre-COVID levels by the mid-2020s.”

Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board said: “The encouraging growth in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts signals strong pent-up demand, and underscore Singapore’s continued appeal as a vibrant and attractive destination for leisure and business travellers. While the pandemic is certainly not over yet, we are confident that Singapore’s very rich calendar of events, as well as new and refreshed tourism offerings, will continue to attract visitors for the rest of 2022 and beyond.”

Looking ahead

As tourism returns, so do events to the city; STB has a strong pipeline of events such as the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2022 in October and the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in November.

New and attractions and offerings like Hell’s Museum at Haw Par Villa, the Museum of Ice Cream, SkyHelix Sentosa, and the “Avatar: The Experience” at Gardens by the Bay later this year, are also set to attract more visitors.

STB is also looking to grow its capabilities in wellness and sustainability, and in June this year hosted its first Wellness Festival Singapore which featured a 10-day line-up of over 100 activities and experiences to promote holistic well-being.