Indonesians Contribute to Surge in Singaporean Visitor Spending

Singapore Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer Aw Kah Peng said on Wednesday that she was “quite excited” about spending by visitors, led by Indonesians and Russians.

Singapore is set to boost visitor numbers by as much as 30 percent this year, as the integrated resorts attract tourists, she said. The Tourism Board expects to attract as many as 12.5 million visitors this year. Tourism receipts may rise as much as 50 percent, boosted by spending by Indonesian and Russian visitors, Aw said.

“We forecasted that we would grow 20 to 30 percent this year and first quarter we grew 20 percent,” Aw said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “In terms of receipts we were forecasting a 40-50 percent increase. We haven’t got our first round numbers out yet but we’re quite excited.”

Singapore aims to lure 17 million visitors and reach annual tourism revenue of S$30 billion ($22 billion) by 2015, helped by two newly opened casino resorts, Marina Bay Sands and Genting Bhd.’s Resorts World Sentosa.

Marina Bay Sands, built beside Singapore’s financial district, opened parts of its $5.5 billion resort on April 27, two months after the $4.7 billion casino development on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. Resorts World, which is run by Genting Singapore Plc, includes a Universal Studios theme park.