China powers Singapore's $8.6b tourism haul in Q1

Shopping and gaming gains outweighed softer hotel and dining spending.

China remained Singapore's biggest tourism receipts market in the first quarter, helping lift visitor spending even as accommodation and dining receipts softened.

Singapore generated $8.55b in tourism receipts from January to March 2026, up 5.78% from a year earlier, according to data from the Singapore Tourism Analytics Network (STAN).

Excluding sightseeing, entertainment and gaming (SEG), China contributed $1.35b in tourism receipts, ahead of Indonesia at $719.7m, Australia at $533.3m, the United States at $465.7m, and India at $374.1m.

Chinese visitors also led spending across the main categories, contributing $343.95m in shopping receipts, $314.9m on food and beverage, $291.66m on accommodation, and $396.75m on other tourism-related expenditure.

Shopping helped drive overall tourism receipts, with spending rising 6.96% year on year to $1.4b. SEG recorded the fastest growth, climbing 22.82% to $1.99b.

Meanwhile, accommodation receipts edged down 0.2% to $1.39b, whilst food and beverage spending slipped 1.9% to $1.23b.

Receipts from other tourism components—including airfares on Singapore-based carriers, local transport, business, medical and education-related spending—increased 1.33% to $2.54b.

Indonesia, the second-largest tourism receipts market, generated $216.74m in shopping receipts, $99.38m on accommodation, $97.34m on food and beverage, and $386.24m under other tourism components. Australia, the United States and India rounded out the top five markets.

Visitor spending patterns differed across markets. Shopping accounted for 30% of Indonesia's tourism receipts and 27% of receipts from the Philippines.

Accommodation made up 27% of spending by visitors from both the United States and the United Kingdom, whilst food and beverage accounted for 23% of Chinese visitors' spending and 22% of South Korean visitors' expenditure.

STAN does not disclose SEG receipts by place of residence due to commercial sensitivity, so these are excluded from the market breakdown.Singapore's tourism receipts rose 5.8% to S$8.55b in Q1 2026 as China remained the biggest spending market and shopping plus gaming offset weaker hotel and dining receipts.

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