Singapore: When "Expensive" Is No Longer the Question, "Worth It" Is

For thebridgereaches.com readers · Based on traveller interviews and destination data from China's 2026 National Day holiday period

For Singapore's hotels and restaurants, Chinese travellers are undergoing a subtle but important shift. During the 2026 National Day Golden Week, Singapore ranked fifth on the Chinese travellers' ASEAN tourism heat list, Universal Studios Singapore ranked second on the attraction heat list, and experience-based projects such as the Night Safari, Skyline Luge and DUCKtours amphibious boat also made the top tier. But more informative than the rankings is this: Singapore's "price index" sits at the top among ASEAN countries. In other words, the Chinese travellers coming to Singapore are choosing to come precisely while knowing it is "expensive." Their question is no longer "is it worth coming," but "once I'm here, how do I play to make it worth it."

What has changed about them

A report jointly released by the Singapore Tourism Board and Xiaohongshu (RED) reveals a key trend: visitors to Singapore are shifting from traditional sightseeing to immersive experiences of local life and the city's quiet ambience — a deeper style of travel. Travellers lean toward blending into local life and exploring the city's quiet corners rather than rushing through sights. The report anchors its two core segments on the "quality-seeking middle class" and the "post-2000s generation," with young working professionals now the main force of travel.

This means the large attractions and shopping venues once treated by Chinese travellers as "must-visits" are no longer the only choice. A café in an HDB (public housing) estate, a quiet alley, a breakfast at a local hawker centre — these "non-touristy" experiences are becoming the new material that gets seeded on Chinese social media.

But there is one detail hotels and restaurants should note: Singapore's high prices are a topic continuously discussed on Chinese social platforms. A young traveller mentioned that the 9% Goods and Services Tax (GST) and 10% service charge, not clearly itemised on the restaurant bill, caught her off guard. This means that transparency, and the feeling of being "caught and held," are themselves the key to retaining Chinese guests in a high-price environment.

Interview: a Chinese traveller in Singapore during the National Day period

Q: A lot of people say Singapore is expensive. What do you think?

A: Expensive is real. For the two of us, we stayed at a four-star hotel near Marina Bay, about 2,000 RMB a night. Meals aren't cheap either — at an ordinary restaurant, two people easily run to 300–400 RMB. But this trip felt different from before — we didn't rush the sights; mainly we stayed at the hotel pool, then walked to a nearby hawker centre to eat. My daughter's favourite was the children's garden at Gardens by the Bay — free, and she played there for two hours.

Q: Where did you stay, and why that hotel?

A: Near Marina Bay, mainly for the location. I saw on RED someone post the night view from their room, and felt it was worth it. After arriving, it really was — at night we could see the light show without even going out, and the kid was thrilled. The hotel front desk had Chinese-speaking staff, and check-in was smooth, which matters a lot for a family with kids.

Q: Was there anything you felt glad to have known in advance?

A: On RED someone warned that restaurant menu prices in Singapore don't include tax and service charge, and the final bill comes out quite a bit higher. So when we ordered we'd roughly calculate in our heads and be mentally prepared. Also, someone recommended a Peranakan (Nyonya) restaurant in Joo Chiat, and we took a taxi there specially to eat — very local setting, and the food was good. If we hadn't seen that note, we'd probably have just eaten near the hotel.

Q: Will you come again?

A: Yes, but maybe stay in a different area. We didn't get to properly explore Joo Chiat this time — the photos look distinctive and I want to go next time. Also, I heard some hawker centres have Michelin-recommended stalls; we didn't get to try them, and I want to seek them out next time.

Why "seeding early" matters for Singapore businesses

What is special about Singapore in Chinese travellers' decisions is this: it is not a "stunning at first glance" destination, but one that needs to be "explained." A traveller may decide to come because they scrolled past a Marina Bay night-view photo, but whether they spend more, stay longer and return depends on how much they learned before the trip about "what else Singapore can offer."

Collaboration data from Xiaohongshu and the Singapore Tourism Board shows the share of RED-influenced visitors to Singapore has risen significantly. More crucially, user search behaviour has shifted from "guide-type" to "experience-type" — they no longer search "Singapore must-visit attractions," but "what Singapore locals eat," "Singapore's quiet corners," and "Singapore hotels suitable for kids."

The implication for hotels and restaurants is clear: your content does not need to show "how good you are," but to show "what a guest will feel here." A room with a night view, a Peranakan dish with a story, a free playground where a child can happily spend two hours — these concrete, perceptible moments have more seeding power than a perfect official photo.

There is also an easily overlooked detail: the payment experience itself is becoming part of the seeding. Chinese travellers in Singapore are already used to WeChat Pay or Alipay; if a restaurant or café is recommended on RED and the visitor finds a familiar payment method on arrival, that feeling of being "caught and held" turns directly into a good review and a second round of sharing. In a high-price destination, the value of this "smoothness" is amplified.

One sentence for Singapore businesses: the guests coming to Singapore have already accepted that it is "expensive." What they need is a reason to make that money "worth it." Your reason needs to be placed in their Xiaohongshu collection folder before they depart.

Published by thebridgereaches.com. The interview is based on a composite of public shares and industry research from Chinese travellers to Singapore during the 2026 National Day period; the person's name is a pseudonym. Sources: China–ASEAN business information platform / Qunar; Singapore Tourism Board × Xiaohongshu "2026 Travel Trends Report"; South China Morning Post and other public sources.