Singapore residents favour nearby destinations over long-haul travel in year-end period

Visa’s latest travel data shows that Singapore residents favoured nearby destinations over long-haul travel during the December 2025 year-end period, with Malaysia and Japan ranking highest in outbound face-to-face spending.

According to Visa’s report, Malaysia retained its position as the top travel corridor, recording an 18 per cent increase in year-on-year spending. Notably, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru saw spend growth of 31 per cent and 17 per cent respectively.

Japan held second place in travel preferences among Singapore residents. Although overall growth in spending was more modest at 5 per cent, winter destinations such as Hokkaido and Nagano saw sharper increases, at 28 per cent and 26 per cent respectively.

These destinations attracted affluent travellers, with Japan maintaining its lead among this group, which showed a 7 per cent increase in spending compared to the previous year.

Visa data also highlighted an emerging trend in Singaporeans exploring secondary cities in Thailand, South Korea, and China.

In Thailand, while overall year-on-year growth was modest, cities such as Chiang Mai and Chonburi reported increased spending. Healthcare emerged as a key driver of travel to Thailand, with spending in this category rising over 28 per cent.

South Korea ranked fourth among outbound destinations, with Busan and Jeju gaining traction. Healthcare again played a dominant role, representing nearly 90 per cent of the year-on-year increase in cardholder spend. This marked a sharp rise from the previous year’s 58 per cent, signalling growing demand for overseas medical services.

Mainland China moved up significantly in the rankings to fifth place, reflecting an almost 80 per cent increase in year-on-year spend.

This followed similar strong growth the year before. Spending was particularly concentrated in accommodation, retail, and department stores. Shenzhen and Chengdu saw stronger growth than traditional urban centres such as Beijing and Shanghai.

In contrast, long-haul destinations lost favour among Singapore residents, especially the mass consumer segment. Traditionally popular December holiday destinations such as France, the United Kingdom, and the United States fell in the rankings to 7th, 8th, and 11th places respectively.

France stood out as the only long-haul destination to register a positive spend growth of 12 per cent. Among affluent cardholders, France ranked as the third most popular destination, behind Japan and Malaysia.

Adeline Kim, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, noted that “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.”

Kim added that another internal study found “close to six in 10 consumers in Singapore are planning to make big ticket purchases on travel.” The study also placed travel as the top spending category, ahead of property, education, luxury goods, healthcare, and automobiles.

To meet this growing demand, Visa is expanding its benefits for affluent and travel-segment cardholders. The new offerings will span dining, accommodation, and lifestyle experiences, aiming to “cater to the changing needs of our cardholders so that they can maximise their travel experiences when they pay with Visa.”