SINGAPORE hotels’ performance slipped sequentially in October, following highs in September when the Formula One (F1) night race came to town, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) data showed on Friday (Nov 29). This came even as international visitor arrivals picked up for the month.
The average room rate (ARR) dropped sequentially to S$275.19 last month, down 12.9 per cent from S$315.79 in the preceding month. Still, it was up 1.7 per cent year on year.
Revenue per available room (RevPAR) similarly slid 14.4 per cent to S$225.07 in October, from S$263.06 in September. On the year, it grew 6.7 per cent.
As a whole, room revenue in October also fell, down 13.3 per cent on the month to S$442.7 million, from S$510.8 million. Year on year, it was up 8.8 per cent.
September’s ARR, RevPAR and overall room revenue remained the highest in the year to date.
Average occupancy rate also registered a slight decrease on the month to 81.8 per cent in October, from 83.3 per cent in September. But on a yearly basis, it was 3.8 percentage points higher.
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Historically, hotel performance indicators also marked month-on-month slips in October 2023 and pre-Covid October 2019.
The latest downtrends came even as tourist arrivals charted month-on-month growth of 3.5 per cent in October to 1.31 million, from 1.27 million before. Arrivals were up 16.7 per cent on the year.
Rates declined across hotel categories month on month. ARR fell to S$653.54 (from S$757.13) in the luxury segment, and to S$318 (from S$374.84) in the upscale segment, S$210.96 (from S$238.05) in the mid-tier segment, and S$142.84 (from S$158.13) in the economy segment.
In the year to date, Singapore’s ARR was up 2.3 per cent year on year to S$281.42. Overall room revenue grew 12.5 per cent to S$4.5 billion. RevPAR rose 3.1 per cent to S$231.89, and the average occupancy rate climbed to 82.4 per cent, from 81.8 per cent in the corresponding period in 2023.
Geographical breakdown
China continued to be the top source of international visitors in October with 234,526 visitors, up from 217,178 in September.
Also increasing was the number of visitors from Indonesia – the second-largest source of tourists – at 183,711, from 173,551 before.
Malaysia, the third-largest source of visitors, sent 103,432 tourists to the Republic in October, lower than the 112,110 in the preceding month.
There were 102,224 tourists from India, which climbed to fourth place in the list of visitors, up from 87,713 in the month before.
In October, 100,935 visitors hailed from Australia, a slight fall from 110,868 in September.
In the first 10 months of the year, Singapore welcomed 13.9 million international visitors. STB chief executive Melissa Ow said at this year’s Tourism Industry Conference that the agency expects 15 million to 16.5 million tourist arrivals for the full year.