Visitor arrivals to Singapore dropped 4.1 percent to 739,000 in September from a year ago due to the global economic crisis and the downturn could continue into next year, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) today.

This was the fourth consecutive month of decline since June and the decline "reflects the challenging global economic environment and outlook for the tourism sector, which may continue into 2009,"said the STB.

"With the current global economic climate, there is now a general air of uncertainty which has impacted consumer sentiments and discretionary spending," it added.

Visitor arrivals and tourism receipts were expected to fall short of this year's targets for 10.8 million visitors and 15.5 billion Singapore dollars (10.6 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism receipts, it said.

Indonesia, Australia, China, India and Japan were Singapore's top five visitor-generating markets for the month. These markets accounted for 52 percent of total visitor arrivals.

September's visitor days were estimated to reach 3.2 million, a growth of 6.2 percent as compared with the same month last year.

Hotels in Singapore were estimated to record 186 million Singapore dollars in room revenue in September, up 26.3 percent over the same month last year.

This month's average room rate was estimated at a record 306 Singapore dollars, representing an increase of 49.5 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the occurrence of the inaugural Formula One Singapore Grand Prix.

The average occupancy rate for hotels was estimated to reach 73 percent, posting a 11.6-percentage-point decrease.