Will the service sector survive dismal sales growth?

7.1% surge in tourist arrivals kept the outlook vibrant.

Despite the gloomy outlook of the overall local business, the service sector registers an upbeat sentiment for Q4, with four of six indicators treading in the expansionary region.

According to Singapore Commercial Credit Bureau (SCCB)'s latest quarterly Business Optimism Index (BOI), the sector's optimistic outlook could be attributed to an expected uptick in tourist arrivals.

"The optimistic outlook is likely to be attributed to an expected uptick in tourist arrivals, improved performance in the hotels and accommodation, as well as positive growth within health and social services," the report said.

Singapore Tourism Board data indicated that the city-state's tourist numbers jumped 7.1% to 1.3 million visitors.

Basing on the data, the sector expects net profits to climb from -6.67 points in Q3 to a flat percentage point in Q4.

The selling price outlook, on the other hand, rebounded into the positive side, jumping from -8.89 points to 2.22 in the said quarter.

Both inventory levels and employment outlooks have made improvements as well, from 6.67 and 2.22 points to 8.89 and 4.44 points, respectively.

Only the volume of sales outlook posted a deterioration, inching lower from -8.89 to -11.11 percentage points.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia