Bumper year for tourism in 2010

Bumper year for tourism in 2010

Indonesian wife Esther Mathadinata is a regular visitor to Singapore, where she enjoys shopping, visits the integrated resorts and goes for routine medical check-ups.

The 50-year-old has been flying to and from her hometown of Bandung in West Java every two months since 2007 to visit her 22-year-old son, Mario.

"She comes to visit me whenever she's free," said Mr Mathadinata, who studies at the Singapore Management University.

Madam Mathadinata is among 2.3 million Indonesian tourists who visited Singapore last year, a 32 per cent jump from 1.74 million in 2009.

Indonesia has consistently been Singapore's top visitor- generating market.

Singapore Tourism Board's assistant chief executive of the international group and corporate-development group, Mr Leong Yue Kheong, said that last year's growth was due to the increase in the number of low-cost-carrier flights between Singapore and Jakarta.

He was speaking at a media conference yesterday at Hotel Fort Canning, where he shared details of the tourism sector's performance last year.

A check with the Changi Airport Group (CAG) showed that airlines such as Garuda Indonesia and Lion Air increased the number of flights from Jakarta last year, while KLM and Qatar Airways have started flights between Singapore and Bali.

-News courtesy of Omy-