Is Singapore expensive? Yes, but travelers visit for other reasons

British National Tony Cross first stepped in Singapore in 1992. The main attractions of the city-state were the flashy malls, pulsating zoo nightclubs and the famous Singapore Zoo.

Today, shopping took the back seat as product prices rose alongside commercial rents in cities where space is scarce. And Singapore’s once-shining club industry is facing difficult times, hurt by high costs and changing alcohol consumption habits.

Competition with other Southeast Asian cities is much cheaper and hot for visits.

Rather than compete for prices, Singapore relies on world-class attractions such as Marina Bay Sands, Bay Gardens and the expanding Mandai Wildlife Reserve, attracting both budget and luxury travelers.

Others arrive at business meetings and live events, from the annual Formula One Night Race to concerts with megastars such as Taylor Swift and Coldplay. This year, Singapore will be holding Lady Gaga concerts on May 18th, 19th, 21st and 24th. According to Singapore Airlines, her only Asia-Pacific region says its reward program, Krisflyer, is her concert partner.

“Singapore has established a great position as an accessible Southeast Asia in the ’80s and ’90s, but many other cities in the region are also raising the game,” said Cross, a financial consultant who has visited the island nation 20 times in the last 30 years.

According to the Singapore Tourism Bureau, Singapore attracted 16.5 million overseas visitors in 2024, up 21% since 2023. This number does not include hundreds of thousands of people entering Singapore every day through two bridges connecting Singapore to Malaysia.

This has increased significantly since 1992 as city-states have attracted less than 6 million visitors, according to the country’s National Archives. However, they still have 19.1 million shy people who arrived in 2019.

The Singapore Tourism Board forecast visitor arrivals have increased from 17 million to 18.5 million this year, with a number of lifestyles and mouse (meetings, incentives, practices, exhibitions) events and new attractions extending to the park, where Disney Adventure began selling in December.

The Singapore Tourism Authority told CNBC Travel it continues to support projects that provide interactive experiences along the global shift towards experiential travel.

Last year, Glasstein Tang, former head of major events for the company that manages the Singapore Sports Hub, the venue for Taylor Swift’s concert, said it needs a vibrant tourism sector to attract and maintain the human capital that makes Singapore a global city. This includes developing fixed assets portfolios such as Marina Bay Sands and “fluid” assets such as concerts, sports and cultural events.

Having a wide range of tourist attractions will boost domestic spending and create jobs locally, he said.

Singapore’s retail and food and beverage sectors signed last year, even if the economy overall expanded by 4.4%.

“The challenge remains for Singapore to go ahead as regional countries and cities are catching up to strengthen its own tourism portfolio,” Tan said. “Tourists have more options now.”

Online travel giant Expedia said the search for flights to Singapore from China, Indonesia and India (the city-state’s three biggest visitors) slipped 1% in the February-July 2025 period compared to the previous six-month period. The company said its accommodation searches also fell by 2% over the same period.

Singapore is a popular destination for Mouse Events, ranking second only to Paris in the International Conference and Convention Association’s 2023 city rankings. However, Thailand and Malaysia are invading sectors due to reduced costs and improved infrastructure.

Malaysian event organizer Albert Lee said quality convention spaces in Kuala Lumpur can be rented for half the cost in Singapore. Bangkok’s costs are comparable to Kuala Lumpur, he added.

“Singapore is a great place to host events. It’s great, safe, accessible and STB is very helpful. But the costs are very high,” he said.

Lee said Kuala Lumpur doesn’t have iconic hotels like Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, but the prices for five-star hotels in the city are far less. For example, a room at Shangri-La’s Singapore costs $500 ($375) per night, compared to $170 per night at a sister hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The Singapore Tourism Authority has tried to change the perception that Singapore is expensive by highlighting how much visitors can do in a day thanks to Singapore’s public transport system.

“We worked with a variety of influencers to show how Singapore can maximize itinerary and time at destinations, not just money,” the spokesman said.

Yoshihiko, a Japanese businessman who frequently visits Singapore and catches up to his friends, said that while hotels are expensive, eating out is inexpensive.

“Hokkien Mee is my favorite local food,” he said, adding that he also likes nature walks in many of Singapore’s parks.

Singapore said that Singapore remains an aspiring destination for Indians, thanks to the Hindi song “Dekhoji dekho Singapore,” a film made in 1960.

Tanzem lived in Singapore for several years before moving to Bangalore where schooling for children is cheap, but her husband continues to work in the city-state, she said.

“There are many people who want to visit Singapore at least once in a lifetime,” she said.