Would resurging tourist arrivals trigger a much-needed rebound in retail sales?

Chinese tourists are flocking back to Singapore.

It seems like the residue of the Malaysian Airlines incident is starting to dissipate, as the number of tourists have seen a significant bounce back, led by a 44% increase in Chinese travelers.

According to analysts from Credit Suisse, however, this was offset by a continued decline in Malaysian and Indonesian tourists, which fell by 3% and 5% respectively.

Credit Suisse says the decline from these regional neighbours were a result of their weakening currencies.

Meanwhile, despite the overall pickup in tourist arrivals, retail sales still remained weak, declining 1% in September after showing sparks of improvement in July and August.

“The greatest fall in sales was in the recreational, optical and fashion sectors, driven by weak consumer sentiment,” Credit Suisse says.