The survey, which covered more than 6,700 respondents in 13 markets in Asia Pacific, found one in three (33%) travellers from India planning a vacation in the region chose Singapore as their most considered destination. Travellers from Malaysia (11%) and Hong Kong (8%) also rank Singapore high on their list of holiday destinations.

Left:  Singapore Flyer & soon-to-open Art Science Museum, popular Singapore’s attractions

Meranda Chan, Visa’s Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, said Singapore’s wide range of top-class new tourist offerings, multi-ethnic population, unique cultural experiences and reputation as a food paradise, makes it one of the most popular destinations within Asia Pacific.

In deciding a destination for an overseas holiday, respondents rate the opportunity to explore new places and natural scenery among their top reasons. Future inbound travellers to Singapore are most willing to fork out more money to enjoy good food and a cultural experience.

In terms of the average duration of overseas trips, travellers who intend to visit Singapore are likely to stay three to five nights. Inbound travellers prefer to stay in four-star hotels at the destination.

                                 Profiles of travellers considering visiting Singapore in the next two years

Paul Tan, Singapore Tourism Board’s Director of Strategic Marketing at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), added that new developments, such as the integrated resorts, and world-class events like Formula One have contributed a positive buzz about Singapore as a must-visit destination, especially among travellers from the region.

“The survey findings are heartening and underscore the dramatic transformation of Singapore’s tourism offerings in recent years as well as our regional offices’ promotion and business development work.”

Tan added that the “positive feeling residents in Malaysia and India have towards Singapore is borne out by the fact that they are among the top five visitor markets from January to November 2010. During the same period Hong Kong also registered a buoyant year-on-year growth of 29.8%.”

He hopes that the encouraging results from the survey would spell opportunities for industry players and the STB to generate further growth from these markets.