Singapore, 19 Dec 2006 – Singapore achieved another tourism milestone this year when it welcomed its first millionth Chinese visitor, Mr Yu Yongkang, this afternoon. The occasion marked the first time that Singapore has reached the one millionth mark for visitor arrivals from China and the first country to do so.

In Singapore on a business trip organised by his company, Pernod Ricard China, Mr Yu touched down in Singapore to a surprise red-carpet welcome by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) at a ceremony held at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 Arrival Hall. Mr Yu was warmly received by Mr Ken Low, STB’s Assistant Chief Executive (Brand and Communications), and was led on stage by a colourful entourage of Peranakan dancers and lion dance, reflecting Singapore’s rich cultural heritage.

When asked about being Singapore’s first millionth Chinese visitor, Mr Yu said “I feel very honoured and excited to be Singapore’s first millionth Chinese visitor! This is really a pleasant surprise for me.  I have heard and always been impressed with Singapore as a highly efficient, multi-cultural society. I would like to thank the STB and I look forward to enjoy the prizes I have won. I will be back next year!”

Singapore’s first millionth Chinese visitor has won over S$15,000 worth of prizes including complimentary stay at Goodwood Park Hotel, and a luxury cruise onboard the SuperStar Virgo, courtesy of Star Cruises. He can also look forward to indulgent spa treatments at The Aramsa Spa, a health screening package by National Healthcare Group in addition to dining and shopping vouchers from the Straits Kitchen, Jumbo Seafood restaurant and Paragon.

Prizes for the first millionth Chinese visitor, including two business-class return tickets to Singapore can be enjoyed anytime in 2007. In commemoration of this significant milestone, Mr Yu was presented with a framed Ornamental Pillow End encapsulated in 24K gold. This momento displays a Qilin and Phoenix, mythical beasts which symbolise wealth, prosperity, virtue and nobility, representing Singapore’s Peranakan cultural heritage.

Commenting on the tourism industry’s latest feat, Mr Low said: “The arrival of Singapore’s first millionth Chinese visitor is a significant milestone for Singapore’s tourism industry as Singapore is the first destination outside of Hong Kong and Macau to achieve this one millionth mark. It also signifies our growing appeal as a destination for Chinese visitors and validates our efforts in focusing on China as one of the key growth markets that will help the tourism industry’s push towards achieving the Tourism 2015 targets.”

The STB first established its presence in China in 1990 to promote Singapore as a destination. In recent years the STB has been aggressively embarking on series of initiatives targeted at Chinese visitors. These include the facilitation of visa application procedures and roll-out of advertising campaigns targeted at different audience such as families, the well-heeled and discerning individuals and business travellers.

More recently, STB offices in China also initiated a series of Business Travel, Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions (BTMICE) roadshows and established strategic partnership between STB, Sentosa, Star Cruises and Suntec Singapore (4S alliance) to holistically market Singapore as a BTMICE destination, with specific focus on meetings and incentive travel.

These initiatives have paid off in terms of generating 72% growth in visitor arrivals over the last five years or an annual average growth of 14%. Today, China is Singapore’s second largest visitor-generating market.

The first millionth Chinese visitor milestone comes hot on the heels of the nine millionth visitor recorded just two weeks back and is one of a few records achieved by the tourism industry in 2006. The others include achieving average occupancy rates of 85% and average room rate of S$164 for the first ten months of 2006, which are the highest ever for the last ten years. The tourism industry is also on track to achieve an all time high of S$12 billion in the tourism receipts this year.