Singapore hotel room rates hit six-year high as tourism recovers

SINGAPORE, July 24 (Bloomberg): Singapore’s hotel room rates surged last month to the highest in almost six years as tourism makes a recovery in the city-state after the government eased coronavirus measures.

The average rate in June was S$238.32 ($171), the highest since September 2016, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Board. That represents a 63% increase from a year earlier, when quarantine rules were still in place.

Singapore in April became one of the first major regional economies to announce it would end all testing for incoming vaccinated travelers as the government furthered efforts for living with Covid-19.

A revival of conferences and major events have also attracted visitors, and STB data showed a nearly 12-fold increase in arrivals in the first half of 2022 compared with the same period a year ago.

Singapore expects to receive 4 million to 6 million visitors in 2022, although tourism flows will face some headwinds for the rest of the year because of the volatile global political and economic environment, as well as the evolving health situation, STB said last week. - Bloomberg