Survey shows Singaporeans least keen among Southeast Asians to travel to US, here's why

It seems that compared to their Southeast Asian counterparts, Singaporeans are much less interested in a trip to the US.

This is according to a survey of 6,000 regional travellers, which was commissioned by CNBC Travel and conducted by Milieu Insight from May 22 to June 10.

While 37 per cent of Singaporean respondents said that their interest in visiting the US stayed the same, only seven per cent of them stated that their interest had increased this year, the survey showed.

What stood out was that more than half (55 per cent) of respondents in Singapore indicated that their interest in visiting the country had waned.

This is in stark contrast to other Southeast Asian respondents, who are generally more receptive to visiting the US.

Respondents from Vietnam (57 per cent), the Philippines (49 per cent) and Thailand (43 per cent) have said their interest in travelling to the US had increased in 2025.

Among the Southeast Asian nations, only Singaporean respondents had stated that they get most of their information from local and international news.

As for the rest, including 80 per cent from Thailand, social media was their primary news source.

Finding out why

For Singaporeans, it seems that safety is a major factor behind their decision to avoid the US as a travel destination.

Apart from personal safety, other worries include possible discrimination or poor treatment while in the country and gun violence, among others.

In CNBC's article on the survey, Zilmiyah Kamble, a senior lecturer for hospitality and tourism management at James Cook University, said that since Singapore has low crime rates, its citizens have high safety expectations.

Singaporean Kimberly Kwok, for example, had told the American news site that she was steering clear of the country this year for the sake of her safety.

Jerry Lau told AsiaOne that he had yet to visit the US and wasn't planning on doing so anytime soon.

The lawyer said: "It's very dangerous, with many cases of shooting, theft and violence."

Reading more of such incidents online has only deterred him further, he added.

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amierul@asiaone.com