WITH Japan being one of Singapore's top markets, the NTO said that recent events would have repercussions on the city-state, although “the real impact” was still uncertain.

Speaking on the sidelines of the annual Tourism Industry Conference yesterday, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) chief executive Aw Kah Peng said: “It may take weeks, it may take longer...We believe that there will be an impact. How large that impact will be, we cannot be certain at this point.”

When asked if STB would move its marketing focus from Japan to other destinations, Aw said decisions were not based on short-term incidents.

“It's way too early to tell. For us, being in the market, engaging our customers and potential visitors, it's a long-term decision,” she added.

In 2010, Japan contributed 529,000 out of 11.6 million arrivals, making it the seventh-largest source market. This represented a growth of eight per cent over the previous year.