Singapore’s “tourism, entertainment and gaming” revenue rose 12% year-over-year to just over $1.47 billion (W1.15 billion) in the second quarter of 2014, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Authority (STB).
Over the same period, overall tourism revenue fell 3% year-on-year to S$5.6 billion due to lower shopping.
Overseas visitors fell 6% year-on-year to 3.6 million, helped by a sharp drop in mainland China visitors.
GGRAsia’s calculations, based on public data, showed that the total “tourism, entertainment and gaming” revenue came from casino gaming at a close to 97%.
Genting Singapore Plc, the operator of Resort World Sentosa Casino Resort, reported second-quarter gaming revenue of S$596.86 million (9% year-over-year).
Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the operator of rival Marina Bay Sands Resorts (which displays accounts in U.S. dollars), reported an increase of 9.5% year-over-year to S$824.24 million ($646.4 million) at current exchange rates in the second quarter.
Combined, sales of these two games come in at S$1.42 billion, meaning only S$50 million came into Singapore in the second quarter from the “tourism and entertainment” segment of that spending category.
‘Tourism, entertainment and gaming’ includes ‘attraction [sic] and night attraction admission fees, day tours, leisure events and entertainment expenditures at integrated resorts’ as defined by STB, with the latter referring to casino resorts.
Still, STB data shows that this category accounts for only 26% of Singapore’s total tourism revenue.
The number of mainland Chinese tourists, generally known to have some of the world’s most enthusiastic casino gamblers, actually fell 47% year-on-year in the same quarter, and was close to 44% quarter-on-quarter.
Only 314,000 arrivals came from mainland China in the second quarter of 2014, compared to 593,000 in the second quarter of 2013. In the first three months of 2014, 557,000 arrivals came from mainland China.
From January to March, however, Singapore still saw a 14% year-on-year drop in visitors to the People’s Republic of China. However, Singapore remains the country’s second-largest inbound tourist market after Indonesia.
Singapore’s economic value seems to be improving for Chinese tourists who are still visiting. 프라그마틱 슬롯 사이트
The number of Chinese visitors who stayed for at least two days was up 21% year-on-year. The number was higher for the first time than those who spent a day or less than 24 hours in Singapore, STB said.
