Singapore Residents Prioritise Regional Travel Destinations for Year-End Travel: Visa
02/05/2026
Leading payments technology company, Visa reveals that Singapore residents continued to travel extensively in December last year, with regional destinations dominating outbound face-to-face spend. Malaysia and Japan emerged as the top corridors, underscoring a clear shift towards shorter-haul travel during the year-end period.
Malaysia retained its pole position as the most popular travel corridor, posting an 18 per cent year-over-year increase in face-to-face card spend. Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru recorded year-on-year growth spend of 31 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, securing their positions as the top destinations for Singaporean residents.1
Although Japan holds second spot as the top destination for Singapore residents to travel during year-end, year-on-year spend growth was not as significant (5%) compared to previous years, likely influenced by natural disasters and regional tensions. Winter destinations such as Hokkaido (+28%) and Nagano (+26%) posted strong gains in cardholder spend, showing demand for snow and winter activities— especially among affluent travellers, with Japan remaining their top destination in December. Overall spend in Japan is also slightly higher among affluent Singapore residents, growing 7 per cent year-on-year.2
Singapore Travellers Explore Secondary Cities in Thailand, South Korea, and China
Thailand and South Korea remain key travel destinations, coming in third and fourth places and Singapore residents ventured beyond major cities. Visa’s data revealed strong spend growth in emerging hotspots such as Chiang Mai and Chonburi in Thailand, and Busan and Jeju in South Korea.
Overall spend growth in Thailand stayed in the low single digits year-on-year, with one notable exception—healthcare, which increased by over 28 per cent. In South Korea, healthcare emerged as the leading spend category for Singapore residents, driving nearly 90 per cent year-on-year growth. This marks a significant increase from last year’s 58 per cent, signaling a growing trend of Singaporeans seeking medical services abroad.
Mainland China continues to grow in popularity as a travel corridor for Singapore residents, jumping up eight ranks to fifth place this year. Spend in China by Singapore residents surged nearly 80 per cent year-on-year, following a similar trend last year at 86 per cent growth. This strong performance was driven by robust spending on accommodation, retail goods, and department stores. Cities such as Shenzhen and Chengdu are also seeing faster growth in tourist spending than traditional destinations including Beijing and Shanghai.
Long-Haul Travel Loses Ground with Mass Consumers
December, typically a peak season for long-haul travel, saw France, the United Kingdom, and the United States slip in ranking as preferred destinations—falling to 7th, 8th, and 11th place respectively. Among the three, France stood out as the only travel corridor to post positive year-on-year growth in spend, up 12 per cent. It is also a popular tourist destination for the affluent segment, coming in third place, after Japan and Malaysia.
“Travel is a key category spend for Singapore residents, especially our affluent cardholders, who are spending three times more per trip than our mass segment cardholders. Another study also showed that close to six in 10 consumers in Singapore are planning to make big ticket purchases on travel3, and it is the top category of spend, ahead of property, education, luxury items, healthcare and automobile. At Visa, we are introducing a new and enhanced suite of benefits across the affluent and travel segment, cutting across dining, accommodation and experiences to cater to the changing needs of our cardholders so that they can maximise their travel experiences when they pay with Visa,” said Adeline Kim, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei.
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1 VisaNet data as of December 2025
2 VisaNet data as of December 2025
3 Green Shoots Radar Wave 17, commissioned by Visa between May and July 2025
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at www.visa.com.sg