Expected Tourist Arrivals and Manpower Adequacy to Cope with Increase

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what is the expected number of tourist arrivals in the next three years; (b) whether the Ministry expects any change in the mix of tourist arrivals; and (c) whether Singapore’s manpower resource is adequate to cope with any increase in tourist arrivals.

Singapore’s tourism sector recovered strongly in 2022. With increasing flight capacity and connectivity, we expect international visitor arrivals (IVA) to reach 12 to 14 million visitors in 2023, or about 70% of pre-pandemic levels. Along this trend, we expect IVA to return to pre-pandemic levels of about 19 million as early as 2024. Tourist arrivals will depend on the prevailing economic conditions and other factors, such as border-related policies.

In 2022, our top source markets for international visitors were largely similar to that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the exception of China. In the next three years, we expect Asia-Pacific markets to be our main sources of international visitor arrivals, with China joining them as it continues reopening. We also expect to continue to appeal to key visitor segments such as families and business travellers, given our commitment to and reputation for safe travel and the wide range of events we offer to both leisure and business travellers. We are also positioning ourselves to capture emerging market segments like wellness and sustainability.

To meet this growing demand, our tourism sector has increased hiring. Our total tourism workforce was around 65,000 as of September 2022, which was about 78% of 2019 levels. We will continue to support our tourism sector’s hiring efforts and attract and retain workers through our job redesign and upskilling programmes. For instance, our Tourism Careers Hub, a joint initiative by our Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and NTUC, has placed more than 500 workers in our tourism sector since its launch in 2022 by providing career coaching, skills upgrading and job matching. We also encourage our tourism businesses to use technology to raise productivity and pursue manpower-lean business models.