Singapore Grand Prix travel data: Where are the tourists trickling in from?

Sojern, a provider of digital marketing solutions for travel, has shared travel trends and insights ahead of the return of the first Grand Prix in three years. With the majority of COVID-19 restrictions now lifted, visitor arrivals in Singapore rose for the sixth consecutive month in July to 726,601, up from 543,733 in June, reported the Singapore tourism board. 

According to Sojern's report, this year's Formula One Singapore Grand Prix is set to see its biggest turnout since its first night race back in 2008. Following the steady easing of COVID-19 restrictions, global flight bookings to Singapore have increased up to 305% since the start of 2022. Bookings have bounced back from 13% to 50% of 2019 levels, in comparing weekly booking volumes in 2022 versus 2019.

In the leadup to the F1, Oceania, primarily Australia, has shown the greatest interest in Singapore travel, up 17% in 2022 versus 2019.

Other notable regions with market share increases compared to 2019 volumes include South Asia (+5%), Western Europe (+3%), Middle East (+1%), with Sojern anticipating that as we move closer to the F1 date travel demand from neighbouring regions such as Southeast Asia and East Asia will also increase.

Australia retains its position as Singapore's top-origin country in 2022 while increasing its market share at the same time (+18% from 18% in 2019 vs 36% in 2022).

Other notable countries moving up the ranks are India (+6% from 4% in 2019 versus 10% in 2022), Philippines (+5% in 2022), and Indonesia (-3% from 7% in 2019 versus to 4% in 2022), with new countries in 2022 including the United Kingdom and South Korea in sixth and 10th places respectively. The United States (8%) and Thailand (6%) remain in the top five whilst China and Japan drop out of the top 10 in 2022, which may in part be attributable to ongoing inbound and outbound travel restrictions in both countries.

Previously, Singapore Tourism Board unveiled SingapoReimagine, the platform for initiatives that are meant to “shape the future of [the tourism] sector”.

This announcement comes in anticipation of Singapore opening its borders for international travel. Referring to the chart above, domestic searches in Singapore currently account for 75.53% of total search events, with the intent from top international markets being shown by the USA (9.85%), the United Kingdom (2.36%), Australia (2.34%) and Japan (1.19%).

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