singapore hotel: Bye, Singapore: the hottest new stopover cities for Australians

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The shift in destinations is largely due to changes in the airline scene, particularly the growth of Middle Eastern airlines Emirates and Etihad, and Qantas’s partnership with Emirates.

Increased flight options to Chinese cities have also played a role, along with the introduction of visa-free stopovers for Australian travellers to Guangzhou.

China Southern Airlines, which has been actively promoting the 72-hour visa-free option since it was introduced last August, says nearly 40 per cent of travellers who have taken it up have been from Australia and New Zealand.

The airline has worked with local tourism authorities to put together stopover packages including Cantonese food and local sights, as an alternative to our traditional Asian stopover cities.

Guangzhou might be new to many Australian travellers, but China Southern says it is now China’s third largest city for tourism, clocking up more than 50 million visitor nights last year.

The executive general manager of marketing for Flight Centre, Colin Bowman, agrees long-standing stopover destinations such as Hong Kong and Singapore have waned, with many Australians now flying to Europe via Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

Bowman says some travellers are “not particularly enamoured” with the Middle Eastern routes, which offer a very long leg out of Australia followed by a shorter leg into Europe, but many see it as an opportunity to bypass London and go straight into other European cities.

Some choose the Middle Eastern routes because they want to fly with the well-regarded Middle Eastern carriers, while others see it as an opportunity to explore somewhere new and see “two cities for the price of one”.

“People are open to these options because they’re always looking for new places to go,” Bowman says. “There are some good accommodation deals, too, especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”

Bowman says stopover travellers in the Middle East can get four or five star hotels from about $100 a night, making it an affordable add-on to their holiday plans.

James Gaskell says the average stopover in Dubai for Creative Holidays customers is four days, while a typical stopover in Abu Dhabi is two to three nights. He believes the “Dubai publicity machine” has played a big role in the Middle East’s growing popularity, along with the number of big-name attractions in the region.

Do you think the Middle East and China are the best stopover destinations? What would your stopover choice be? Post your comments below.

95 comments

Singapore is a pleasant oncer. But its China for me.. the visa free thing should go to 7 days and include more cities.. Shanghai, Beijing in particular. Bring it on.

Commenter
rustynails

Location

theburbs

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 5:13PM
- It is good to have more choices of cities for stopover on the way to Europe, but I will avoid a stopover in any Chinese cities as I have experienced and well known for flights getting delayed frequently and you can be stuck at the airport for very long time.
  
  Commenter
  David_
  
  Location
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 3:13AM
- I would never visit China or the Middle East. I am highly uncomfortable travelling or visiting non democratic and authoritarian countries. Now that there are direct non stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to India, I would prefer travelling to Europe and North America via New Delhi. The airports in New Delhi and Mumbai are absolutely fantastic. In fact, Mumbai airport has a massive art center inside the airport and International travellers can visit it for free. It is estimated to attract over 40 million visitors/travellers every year compared to the Louvre which attracts 9 million visitors each year. For me, it is a big no to travelling to China and the Middle East.
  
  Commenter
  NoBias
  
  Location
  
  Sydney
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 9:36AM

My last trip was with Malaysia Airlines, so my stopover was Kuala Lumpur. I found Malasia to be excellent, so I’ll not be put off by their missing plane. Kuala Lumpur is a pleasant city, there is lots to do and you can take an enjoyable day visiting Malacca. There are also peninsula tours that take in Butterworth and the Cameron highlands. If you have more time there is always North Bornoe with the Orang Utans.

Commenter
BB

Location

Western Victoria

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 6:28PM
- KL a pleasant city? That has to be either a big joke or sarcas.
  
  KL is a literal dump of a city, congested, chaotic, crime riddenand unclean.
  Malaysia has plenty of fascinating places to see, but not KL, you need to venture outside,
  
  Commenter
  regh
  
  Location
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 9:17AM
- When QANTAS realised that there was no future flying through Singapore because the ONE WORLD tie up meant that the STAR ALLIANCE was going to be too dominant from Australia. Our cost base for international air travel is also never going to be able to compete with asian and gulf airlines.
  
  Commenter
  PORTMAN
  
  Location
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 9:19AM
- Agree KL Is a pleasant city, based on 6 trips there last year. Its as safe as any other city in the region with the exception of pristine Singapore. It has more atmosphere than SIN but not a massive amount to do in town.
  
  Commenter
  Condor
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 10:03AM
- @ BB
  
  Despite others’ views, I also like KL. And, hiring a car from KLIA to Malacca is a great option.
  
  Perhaps the most important attribute overlooked in this article is that prices to Europe are considerably cheaper from SE Asia (than from Oz – including the Oz – SE Asia leg). For example, east coast Oz to Paris = app. $1400 (Etihad). However, a Scoot/AirAsia link to KL, and MAS onwards is $300+ cheaper. Both options include a stopover.
  
  Also, I like daytime flying. Thus, I’ll do KUL / BOM / CDG with another stopover in BOM and I’m flying daytime and for about the same $$$ as a flight from Oz.
  
  Cheers
  
  Commenter
  Dalliance
  
  Location
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 10:12AM

Middle East ? You’ve got to be kidding. I guess some people are happy to be sheep and follow Qantas to Dubai in their ill-advised deal with Emirates. Dubai is glitzy and horrible with repressive laws, and built on backs of exploited migrant workers. And that’s assuming you’re not also Jewish or gay ! Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and the rest of SE Asia (excluding several nasty regimes like Brunei) are much more inviting.

Commenter
Peter

Location

Date and time

May 22, 2014, 10:48PM
- Having lived and worked in the UAE, I can tell you that Dubai is an exploitative hell hole. Singapore is much more appealing on every level.
  
  Commenter
  Blazzo
  
  Location
  
  Tassie
  
  Date and time
  
  May 23, 2014, 9:01AM