SINGAPORE is the No. 2 favourite overseas travel destination for mainland Chinese during China's National Day Golden Week that started on Monday.
In a survey released by media company Nielsen on Tuesday, 29 per cent of Chinese planning for a trip abroad chose the Republic, second to Hong Kong which had over 50 per cent.
Macau was third.
The survey also showed that six in 10 Chinese planned to travel either domestically or internationally during the Golden Week, compared to about four in 10 for the Chinese New Year holidays.
In August last year, Singapore saw a record number of Chinese tourists, with 114,000 visitors compared to the last record of 113,000 in July 2006.
However, Singapore is often "a day stop" in a package that includes Malaysia and Thailand, said Ms Lau Chuen Wei, executive director of the Singapore Retailers Association.
"It's zip-in, zip-out. There are tours where they do not stay overnight," she added. She also said most retailers here do not see increased business as most shopping for Chinese tour groups is done on a commission basis with selected retailers.
However, aside from the mass tours, there is a new group of Chinese tourists who come here on their own and may contribute to a larger segment of the retail sector, she said.
This is supported by the survey which showed 33 per cent of Chinese Netizens prefer to travel independently.
As to why Singapore is a hit with Chinese tourists, a Singaporean director of a Hong Kong joint-venture real estate firm, who wanted to be known as Mr Tan, 47, said the strong economic and cultural ties between the two countries could be a factor.
"Singapore is very well known to the Chinese due to the publicity of many governmentto- government visits between both countries," said Mr Tan, a Beijing resident for 16 years.
In addition, he said that many Chinese visitors to Singapore are probably on working trips, be it for business, academic research or government visits.
"Even during the Golden Week, many visits are workrelated trips, such as companysponsored incentive trips," he said.
Favourite local haunts for Chinese tourists include Sentosa, gem-and-jewellery factories and some fashion outlets.
"Fashion brands like Louis Vuitton and Prada are more expensive in China than in Singapore," explained Mr Tan.
The Chinese also like to shop at gem-and-jewellery factories, because of "the authenticity and quality of the jewellery here", Ms Lau said.
However, tourist arrivals from China suffered a decline in August, falling by 21 per cent from 114,000 to 91,000 on a year-on-year comparison.
The situation could be exacerbated by recent events such as the Sichuan earthquake, typhoons and financial meltdown.
Lianhe Zaobao reported yesterday that China-based travel agency China Spring Tour had cancelled almost 40 package tours to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
