The latest tourism figures for Singapore show record spending by UK visitors in the first six months of 2011. Over 231,000 people visited from the UK between January and June, more than from each of the United States, Germany and Hong Kong.

UK visitors spent S$282 million, mostly on accommodation, food and shopping. Singapore has seen a wave of new hotels, restaurants and shops opening in the last 18 months, as well as significant new conference and meeting facilities.

Total international visitor arrivals to Singapore between January and June 2011 stood at 6.2 million, a 15% increase on the same period in 2010. Additionally, total spend from tourism during the same period is estimated at S$11 billion, up 32% on the same six months last year.

Entertainment saw the greatest percentage change with a 136% increase in sightseeing and Entertainment expenditure for the period, followed by a 23% increase in Food and Beverage expenditure.

Much of this success can be attributed to the city’s constantly changing skyline, which has seen the city evolve to encompass more state of the art entertainment facilities, innovative design hotels to suit every budget and a wealth of new dining options. The successful launch of integrated resorts Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, new hotels such as Fullerton Bay and The New Majestic and shopping facilities such ION Orchard and the new Louis Vuitton store have all contributed to the growth.

Singapore is poised to witness further changes, with the forthcoming opening of Gardens By The Bay in Spring 2012 again changing the city’s horizon, with dramatic “supertrees” and two huge glass domes at the heart of the complex. 2012 will also see the opening of the new International Cruise Terminal and the River Safari.

Tourism is set to be a key focus for Asia-Pacific with the region expecting to attract over 100 million business travel and MICE visitors by 2015, up from 40 million in 2002. Tourism will remain a key pillar with tourism receipts expected to rise to S$30 billion by 2015, with visitor arrivals increasing to 17 million.

Eunice Yeo, Area Director Northern & Western Europe commented; “It is fantastic that the ever-changing skyline has seen Singapore remaining hugely attractive to UK visitors. As Singapore has continued to evolve it has built more state of the art facilities adding a wealth of options for visitors, meaning that they are staying longer than ever before. New hotel options to suit all budgets, including ‘Flashpacker hostels’, have added to the city’s sophisticated infrastructure with well over 100 hotel offerings, many celebrity chef restaurants, world-class entertainment venues and a plethora of retail outlets.

“This continued growth has enabled us to set ambitious targets and we believe that future expansion planned for Singapore over the coming years will allow us to achieve them.”