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According to Singapore Tourism Board data, a record five million tourists visited the republic during the third quarter, bringing arrivals so far this year to 15.8 million.
With people avoiding the protests in Hong Kong, Singapore witnessed a surge in tourist arrivals, which helped push hotel deals to record levels, reported Bloomberg.
Preliminary data from Colliers International showed that hospitality transaction volumes within the city-state reached an unprecedented $5.7 billion as of 30 November, or around five times 2018’s figures and the most in at least 10 years.
According to Singapore Tourism Board data, a record five million tourists visited the republic during the third quarter, bringing arrivals so far this year to 15.8 million.
Colliers executive director of valuation and consultancy services Govinda Singh noted that the city-state “no doubt” benefited from the demonstrations that plagued Hong Kong in the last six months.
He added that the opening of Jewel Changi Airport, which featured the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, the additional business generated by the F1 Singapore Grand and Raffles Hotel’s reopening also helped.
The merger of some major Singapore real estate investment trusts also boosted transactions, said Tricia Song, Colliers’ head of research for Singapore.
The $1.2 billion acquisition of Mandarin Orchard, following OUE Commercial Reit and OUE Hospitality Trust’s merger, emerged as the biggest deal of the year.
The group’s $486 million purchase of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Changi Airport was also the third-biggest for the year.
With this, Christine Li, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, expects hospitality market’s near- to mid-term outlook to be favourable, barring an economic crisis.
She also expects 2020 to another bumper year as some large exhibitions and events make their return to Singapore and new one surfaces.
A slew of new attractions would help cement the city-state’s position as a Southeast Asia tourism hub.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
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