With the economic crisis biting, tourist arrivals in November fell 9.7%, compared to the same period in 2007, the sixth drop in a row.
my paper spoke to 10 tourists leaving Singapore at Changi Airport to find out what improvements they would like to see.
The only significant gripe, cited by four out of 10, was that Singapore is "expensive" when compared to other popular destinations. However, they praised service and efficiency levels here.
Some locations the visitors felt are cheaper include Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
An Australian, who wished to be known only as Emily, said: "The food here is expensive. From the littlest things like soft drinks to a pot of tea in a cafe." She had spent five days here.
She was charged $9 for a pot of tea at a cafe. The same order would have cost about A$5 (S$5.05) in Australia, she said.
Ms Kelly Zhang from Shanghai also spent five days in Singapore. She told my paper: "The service here is quite good. But things are expensive for my budget, which affects the enjoyment of shopping.
"Luxury items like jewellery are expensive, compared to Shanghai. Even handbags that are not made of leather, like a Fion bag I saw, are pricey."
Echoing her view is Madam Du Ming Mei, a Taiwanese based in Shanghai. She was here for five days with her family and found Singapore "too costly". Meals, taxis and goods in retail malls all came at high prices. Madam Du and her husband, Mr Pan Jian Hua, felt that Singapore is "more costly than Hong Kong and Taipei".
Madam Du had another gripe: at a food court in town, she found the hygiene wanting.
She said with a grimace: "The stallholders wiped the tabletops with a dirty-looking cloth. And the trays were oily."
cheryll@sph.com.sg
Good-value offerings
THE Singapore Tourism Board's director of planning, Ms Ong Huey Hong, said that, given "varying costs and standards of living" in the region, Singapore does not compete "solely on price". It offers a variety of tourism offerings from food to accommodation, transport and entertainment.
Food options here range from hawker centres and food courts to fine-dining restaurants, she noted.
"Given the current global economic situation and in recognition...that consumers are likely to be more price sensitive, we will continue to focus our efforts on providing visitors with more value-for-money tourism offerings."
