Wong, however, sought to temper expectations of a further surge in the number of visitors from India, saying that his country sees tourism from India reaching pre-pandemic levels only in 2024. While Singapore has seen its tourism industry return to normal since the lifting of Covid-induced curbs on overseas travel, Renjie Wong, area director India, Middle East and South Asia, Singapore Tourism Board, said normal tourist outflow to the island-nation from India would only be restored by 2024.
India was one of the top nations contributing to the rush of overseas visitors to the island-nation before the pandemic struck. However, for two years since being hit by Covid, the tourism industry in the country suffered as much as other parts of the globe. However, speaking to mediapersons in Pune on Thursday, Wong said there are signs of the country’s tourism industry returning to normal since the start of this year. The island-nation has hosted over 1.5 million tourists in the first half of 2022, he said, adding, “India has emerged as the second largest source market with 2,19,000 tourists visiting from the country.” Prior to the pandemic, Singapore had logged 1.41 million tourists from India.
Wong, however, sought to temper expectations of a further surge in the number of visitors from India, saying that his country sees tourism from India reaching pre-pandemic levels only in 2024. This, he said, was a projection made on the basis of the present tourist flow from India. In order to boost tourism and draw more visitors from the country, the Singapore Tourism Board is in the process of conducting ‘roadshows’ in five cities — Pune, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
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First published on: 05-08-2022 at 02:54:36 am