Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

As Gambling Is on the Rise in Singapore, More Indonesians Are Visiting
February 08, 2012

Share This Page
1
1
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

Singapore. More than two and a half million Indonesians went to Singapore last year, according to the Singapore tourism authority, which reported a record number of visitors lured by new casinos.

Visitor arrivals rose to 13.2 million, up 13 percent from 2010, the Tourism Board said in a statement. About 2.6 million Indonesians visited Singapore last year, followed by tourists from China, Malaysia and Australia.

Tourism industry revenue jumped 17 percent to a record 22.2 billion Singapore dollars ($17.8 billion), the board said. Revenue from sightseeing and entertainment, which includes gambling, soared 37 percent to 5.5 billion Singapore dollars.

Visitor arrivals have more than doubled since 2003, and tourism has become a key economic growth driver for the city-state of five million people. But the government expects the economy, which also relies on manufacturing and finance, to expand as little as 1 percent this year, down from 4.8 percent last year.

France is the world’s most visited country by international tourists with 77 million in 2010, followed by the United States with 60 million.

Singapore’s world-class shopping malls used to be the key tourist draw, but its first two casino resorts have helped attract visitors since they opened in 2010, particularly from neighboring Asian countries.

Arrivals from China surged 35 percent in 2011, the first full year the casinos were operating.

The government has sought to keep Singaporeans out of the casinos, imposing a 100 Singapore dollar entry fee on citizens. Regulators this week fined Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Marina Bay Sands 255,000 Singapore dollars and Genting Singapore Ltd.’s Resorts World Sentosa $130,000 Singapore dollars for breaking admission rules such as allowing Singaporeans to enter the casinos without paying the entry levies.

Associated Press