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The National British Tony Cross stepped on the first foot in Singapore in 1992, when the main raffles of the city-state were its dazzling shopping centers, Zouk’s nightclub and the famous Singapore zoo.
Today, purchases have taken a rear seat, since products prices have risen along with commercial rentals in a city where space is scarce. And, the Singapore clubbing industry faces difficult times, it hurts for high costs and changing alcohol consumption habits.
The competition of other cities in Southeast Asia, which are much cheaper to visit, is also heating.
Instead of competing in the price, Singapore depends on world class attractions as Marina Bay Sands, Gardens next to the bay and the expansion Wildlife Reserve Mandai To draw budget and luxury travelers equally.
Others arrive for commercial conferences and live events, from the annual Formula One Night race to Megastars concerts such as Taylor Swift and Coldplay. This year, Singapore will organize Lady Gaga concerts on May 18, 19, 21 and 24, his only stop in Asia-Pacific, according to Singapore Airlines, whose rewards program, Krisflyer, is a concert partner.
“Singapore was built a brilliant position like Southeast Asia accessible in the 80s and 90s. But many other cities in the region have also increased their game,” said Cross, a financial consultant who has visited the nation of the island about 20 times in the last three decades.
The economy of experience
Singapore attracted 16.5 million visitors abroad in 2024, an increase of 21% since 2023, according to the Singapore Tourism Board. The numbers do not include the hundreds of thousands of people entering Singapore daily through two bridges that connect Singapore to Malaysia.
That is a great increase from 1992, when the city-state attracted less than 6 million visitors, according to the national archives of the country. However, it is still shy at 19.1 million that arrived in 2019.
Taylor Swift is presented at the National Stadium of Singapore on March 2, 2024.
Ashok Kumar/Tas24 | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty images
The Singapore Tourism Board predicts that visitors will grow between 17 million and 18.5 million this year, driven by a series of lifestyle and mice events (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions), as well as new attractions ranging from Asian tropical jungleA park that opened last week, to the Disney Adventure cruise, scheduled to sail in December.
Singapore’s Tourism Board told him CNBC trips He will continue to support projects that offer interactive experiences in line with the global change towards experimental trips.
Galastein Tan, the former chief of important events in the company that manages the Singapore sports center, the place of Taylor Swift concerts last year, said Singapore needs a vibrant tourism sector to attract and retain the human capital that makes it a global city. This implies developing a portfolio of fixed assets such as Marina Bay Sands and “liquid” assets, such as concerts and sporting and cultural events.
Having a wide range of tourist attractions will also increase domestic spending and create locally jobs, he said.
A visitor explores a cave camera in Rainforest Wild Asia, a park that is part of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, which opened in March 2025.
Suhaimi Abdulla | Nurphoto | Getty images
Singapore’s retail and food and food sectors were contracted last year, even when the economy in general expanded by 4.4%, as the greatest expense of Singapore residents abroad compensated for the increase in tourist receipts.
“The challenge is still that Singapore remains at the forefront, since regional countries and cities are updating and reinforcing their own unique tourism portfolios,” said Tan. “Tourists have more options now.”
Expensive hotels and cheap food
Expedia, the online travel giant, said that Singapore flight searches from China, Indonesia and India, the three largest visitors in the city-state, fell 1% during the period from February to July 2025, compared to the previous period of six months. Accommodation searches also fell 2% during the same period, the company said.
Singapore remains a popular destination for mice events, classifying number 2 after Paris in the 2023 city ranking of the International Association of Congress and Conventions. Thailand and Malaysia, however, are entering the sector, due to lower costs and improving infrastructure.
Singapore is the perfect place to celebrate events … but the costs are very high.
Albert Lee
Event organizer
Albert Lee, an event organizer from Malaysia, said that the quality conventions space in Kuala Lumpur can be rented for approximately half of what it costs in Singapore, while a dinner for 40 in a good restaurant with entertainment and transport can be organized at one third of the price. Bangkok costs are comparable to Kuala Lumpur, he added.
“Singapore is the perfect place to celebrate events: it is pleasant, safe, accessible and STB is very useful. But the costs are very high,” he said.
Lee said that although Kuala Lumpur does not have iconic hotels like Marina Bay Sands of Singapore, the five -star hotels in the city cost much less. For example, a room in the Shangri-La Singapur costs $ 500 in Singapore dollars ($ 375) per night versus SG $ 170 per night at his brother hotel in Kuala Lumpur, showed a review of Hotels.com.
Find value
The Singapore Tourism Board has been trying to change the perception that Singapore is expensive when emphasizing how much a visitor can make in a day thanks to the public transport system of Singapore, a point that Cross also made.
“We have worked with several influential people to show how Singapore offers not only a value for money, but also how travelers can maximize their itinerary and time in our destination,” said a spokesman.
Japanese businessman Yoshihiko Tano, who visits Singapore often to catch up with friends, said that while the hotels are expensive, eating outside is cheap, thanks to the many centers of street vendors where you can buy a meal and drink for less than SG $ 10.
Lau Pa de Singapore, the Hawker SAT SAT center, in the city’s central business district.
Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty images
“Hokkien Mee is my favorite local food,” he said, adding that he also likes nature walks in the many Singapore parks.
The city-state can also have the support of repeated visitors like Nazia Tanzeem, who said Singapore remains an aspirational destination for the Indians thanks to “Dekhoji Dekho Singapore“A Hindi song in a movie made in 1960.
Tanzeem lived in Singapore for several years before moving to Bangalore, where education for her children is cheaper, but her husband continues to work in the city-state, she said.
“There are many people who would like to visit Singapore at least once in their lives,” he said.
