Singapore woos China's 'Golden Week' tourists as retail drops

Retail brands in Singapore has been offering discounts in the city-state since September 30, in a bid to woo Chinese tourists traveling abroad during a week-long national holiday in China.

Singapore is trying to revive its flagging retail industry, where sales excluding motor vehicles have fallen in ten of the past 12 months.

An estimated 589 million Chinese will travel overseas and domestically for leisure during the upcoming holiday period, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy. Singapore was number 7 on the list of the top destinations, lagging behind countries including Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

Singapore’s newly created promotion will face competition with the Korea Grand Sale, which takes place the entire month of October. South Korea’s capital Seoul is the number one destination for tourists on group and self-guided tours during China’s Golden Week, according to Ctrip.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government projected that 250,000 tourists are set to visit the city in early October, according to a report of South Korea's largest news agency Yonhap.

Hong Kong ranks fourth on the top destination list from Ctrip. The Chinese outbound city is also trying to win back the mainland tourists in the holiday week, according to a China Daily report.

According to Hong Kong Tourism Board, the number of mainland visitors going to Hong Kong fell for 12 months before a brief rebound in July.