SINGAPORE – Jewel Changi Airport continued on its recovery path in the financial year ending March 31, 2024, with footfall at the $1.7 billion retail complex growing by 26 per cent compared with the year before.
Buoyed by the rising number of travellers passing through Changi Airport post-Covid-19, overall retail sales at Jewel also grew by 20 per cent in the most recent financial year.
The 14,000 sq m Canopy Park at the mall’s top floor drew in 12 per cent more visitors compared with the previous financial year as well, with the attraction making 35 per cent more in ticket sales.
Marking its fifth year of operation on April 17, Jewel said in a statement it is now on “a strong footing”, though it did not provide specific visitor and sales figures, citing commercial sensitivities.
A spokesperson said only that its current footfall is close to pre-Covid-19 levels. Before the pandemic, it had as many as 300,000 visitors daily.
The spokesperson noted that retail sales at the mall between April 2023 and March 2024 are a record, and it is 17 per cent higher when compared with the period between April 2019 and March 2020.
Jewel’s continued recovery came in tandem with a steady rebound at Changi Airport, which registered 58.9 million passenger movements in 2023 – 86 per cent of annual traffic levels seen before Covid-19.
In February 2024, passenger traffic at Changi crossed pre-pandemic levels for the first time, though this was boosted by other factors such as the leap year and the Chinese New Year holidays.
Jewel said about 30 per cent of its visitors between April 2023 and March 2024 were tourists, with travellers from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, the US and Indonesia making up the top five by volume.
The top five spenders were those from Indonesia, China, India, Philippines and Vietnam, with Chinese visitors spending nearly five times more in the last three months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
To celebrate its fifth anniversary, Jewel said it is planning a series of special events and retail offerings for the rest of 2024.
There will be a new five-minute light-and-music show at the Rain Vortex, the indoor waterfall, starting from April 17. From the second half of 2024, visitors will be able to participate in a new behind-the-scenes tour of the 40m-tall waterfall.
Retailers will also be offering special deals, with some, like coffee chain Starbucks, designer clothing brand Polo Ralph Lauren and restaurant Burger and Lobster, launching commemorative products for sale.
New stores will be added to the mix in May and June. For instance, home-grown fashion label Charles and Keith will open its first Singapore flagship store, expanding its current shopfront at Jewel Basement 1.
Jewel, which was built over the former open-air car park in front of Terminal 1, opened to great fanfare in 2019. Developed by Changi Airport Group and CapitaLand, it attracted 50 million visitors in its first six months.
But the mall was forced to shut after Singapore entered an eight-week circuit-breaker period between April and June 2020 to stem the spread of Covid-19. In 2021, Jewel was closed again for a month due to a surge in Covid-19 cases linked to a cleaner at Changi Airport.
The shine finally returned in 2022, as retail sales rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and nearly 345,000 people visited the mall on Christmas Day – the highest number recorded since the pandemic struck.
This has since been surpassed, with the mall recording 346,000 visitors on Deepavali in November 2023.
Mr James Fong, chief executive of Jewel Changi Airport Development, said: “As we look forward to more exciting years ahead, we wish to thank Singaporeans and guests from around the world for their love and extend our appreciation to our tenants and partners who have stood shoulder to shoulder with us all this time.”
