Singapore placed 10th as most visited destination

The lion city is most popular amongst travellers from the UK thanks to its cuisine and heritage.

Singapore rounded off the top 10 global destinations most visited by travellers in 2018, according to a report by Twitter.

Of the four countries from the Asia Pacific (APAC) region which made the top 10, Singapore lagged behind Thailand which placed third, Australia (7th) and Japan (9th) with around 25% of respondents claiming to have visited the lion city in the past year. The US and UK claimed the top spots with 35% and 30%, respectively.

The research which was conducted with over 7,500 respondents across 13 countries analyses the top travel trends amongst Twitter users and key insights from the travel community that brands and travel destinations can use to grow their reach and appeal on the platform.

“Leisure travel is on the rise in and out Asia, and Twitter uses in particular are always on a lookout for new travel destinations,” Martyn U’ren, research director for APAC, Middle East and North Africa at Twitter, said.

Whilst most of the travellers to Singapore are from Asia, the report found that the city state continued to garner interest amongst travellers from Europe and US. Respondents from the UK showed the most interest with 32% intending to visit Singapore in the future.

“Expectedly, good food as cited as the top reason that brings travellers to Singapore,” Twitter said in a statement. “Local cuisine, world class beauty and natural environments, and rich history and heritage rank as the top three reasons why Twitter users travel to Singapore.”

In terms of Singapore’s Twitter travellers, Singapore came in second after South Korea in terms of where most travellers come from at 12.7%. Their key considerations in choosing a holiday destination included safety, value for money, shopping opportunities and interesting attractions to visit, the report highlighted.

46% of Singaporean travellers sought destinations which have interesting attractions to visit whilst 31% seeked out great shopping which are significantly higher than the global average of approximately 35% and 23%, respectively.

In addition, Twitter travellers take to the platform and social media outlets to decide their next destination choice with 21.6% of users found to be more likely to consider destinations advertised on social media. Singaporean travellers were found to prefer Japan, Australia, South Korea, UK and Taiwan.