Fewer Singaporeans visited Malaysia last year

SINGAPORE: Despite the drop in the value of the ringgit, fewer Singaporeans visited Malaysia last year.

The Straits Times reported that Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board figures show that 12,930,754 people from Singapore visited Malaysia last year. This is a 7 per cent drop over the number of visitors in 2014 – 13,932,967.

The report said travel experts gave various reasons for the fall, including that travellers here were keener on other destinations in the region whose currencies have also been weak.

It quoted Alicia Seah, Dynasty Travel’s director of public relations and communications as saying travellers might be facing “fatigue” from having visited Malaysia frequently.

“If you fly, or even travel by cruise ships or ferry, there are many competing, low-cost destinations like Bandung and Surabaya. You can be there in under two hours,” she added.

Associate Professor Ang Swee Hoon from the National University of Singapore’s business school said the Singapore dollar was stronger relative to several currencies, such as the Japanese yen, Aussie dollar and Thai baht.

“Singaporeans, who probably have travelled to Malaysia before, would want to take the opportunity of a stronger Singdollar to visit countries farther away so that their money can be stretched further,” Ang was quoted as saying.

She added that Malaysia was probably viewed as a tourist destination that Singaporeans could go any time they wanted, partly because the ringgit had weakened against the Singdollar for a while now.

As of yesterday, S$1 could fetch RM2.96. Last August, the ringgit weakened past the RM3 mark against the Singdollar for the first time.

Travellers may also be avoiding a trip to Malaysia due to heavy traffic jams on the Causeway, the Straits Times quoted Rachel Yee, tour manager at travel agency KKKL, as saying. She said business from those going to Malaysia fell by about 20 per cent last year from 2014.

The report said that incidences of crime in Malaysia was probably another factor that had contributed to the drop in visitors from Singapore to Malaysia last year.

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