Johor drew roughly 11 million Singapore visitors in the first seven months of 2025, who spent an estimated S$1 billion, according to state figures compiled by The Independent Singapore — with DBS reporting a 30% year-on-year rise in ringgit spending among its clients and UOB card data showing Singaporean dining spend in Johor Bahru up 40%. For hospitality investors, this is the footfall thesis moving from projection to measured behaviour.
The Independent Singapore, compiling Johor state figures and bank data, reported that Johor received around 11 million Singapore visitors in the first seven months of 2025, spending an estimated S$1 billion. The state also logged about 14 million foreign visitors over the same seven months — already close to the 16 million it recorded across the whole of 2023.
From projection to measured behaviour
Earlier cross-border cases rested on survey projections of what Singaporeans said they would do. This is different: it is banks reporting what their customers actually spent. A visitor pool of 11 million in seven months, spending at double-digit growth rates across dining, groceries and services, is a demand base that footfall-led Johor hospitality — hotel food and beverage, retail podiums, serviced residences near the crossings — sits directly inside.
The desk's view: the significance is the shift from intent to record. When two major banks independently report double-digit growth in cross-border spending, the question for a hotel investor is no longer whether the demand exists — it is which asset positions capture it, and whether the operator can convert footfall into nights.
Key takeaways
- ~11 million Singapore visitors to Johor in the first seven months of 2025, spending an estimated S$1 billion.
- DBS reported +30% ringgit spending among clients; UOB card data showed JB dining +40%, groceries +31%, cosmetic procedures +90%.
- This is measured bank-card behaviour, not survey intent — the footfall thesis in realised data.
- It is spending, not room nights: strongest evidence for footfall-led and F&B-exposed hospitality assets.
Why this matters to hotel investors
The Johor demand case has long been argued on projections. Bank card data showing S$1 billion of realised Singaporean spending, growing at double digits, is the hardest confirmation yet that the cross-border consumer engine is real — the pool an operator has to convert.
What we checked
Claims independently checked
- The 11 million Singapore visitors and 14 million foreign visitors (first seven months of 2025) are Johor state figures, attributed to the state committee and cross-referenced against Tourism Johor (src-tourism-johor-visitors).
- The UOB dining +40% / supermarket +31% / cosmetic +90% figures and the DBS +30% figure are as reported from those banks' data on the access date.
Claims not independently verified
- The ~S$1 billion spending total is a state/aggregated estimate, not an audited transaction figure.
- Bank card figures reflect each bank's own cardholders and are directional, not market-wide; none is a room-night measure.
These figures are reported as the original publisher's (or the named party's) claims. Treat them as claims, not as independently established facts.
Sources
Each source is labelled with how far it can be relied on. We do not present promotional material as independently verified, and we say so when we could not check something.
“Johor in numbers: 11 million visitors from Singapore spent S$1 billion so far in 2025”
Singapore digital outlet compiling Johor visitor and spending numbers: ~11 million Singapore visitors and ~S$1 billion in Singaporean spending in Johor across the first seven to eight months of 2025, citing state figures and a DBS report of a 30% year-on-year rise in ringgit spending among its clients. Aggregated reporting of official and bank data — the figures belong to those bodies, not the outlet.
News publication · Published 20 Oct 2025 · Accessed 21 Jul 2026
Supporting source“Singaporeans spending at restaurants in Johor Bahru increased by 40%, and spending on Korean-style cosmetic procedures increased by nearly 90%”
Report of UOB cardholder spending data: Singaporean dining spend in Johor Bahru up 40% year on year in Q3 2025, supermarket spend up 31%, and South Korean-style cosmetic-procedure spend up ~90%. UOB card data reported by the outlet — a real payments dataset, but one bank's cardholders, so directional rather than market-wide.
News publication · Published 23 Feb 2026 · Accessed 21 Jul 2026
Supporting sourceTourism Johor / Johor state committee
“Johor visitor statistics 2025”
Johor state visitor figures, released through the Johor Unity, Culture and Heritage Committee: roughly 11 million visitors from Singapore and 14 million foreign visitors in the first seven months of 2025 (against 16 million foreign visitors in all of 2023). State count attributed to the named committee official.
Government · Published 1 Aug 2025 · Accessed 21 Jul 2026
Primary source
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