COVID-19 brought forth years of border restrictions and subdued travel, but Asia’s tourism sector has begun roaring back to life.
Post-pandemic recovery has unleashed significant pent-up demand across travel and consumer spending sectors.
From January to August 2025, 11.6 million people visited Singapore, which is a 2.7% year-on-year (YoY) improvement.
Investors seeking exposure to Asia’s tourism recovery should consider companies with direct links to hospitality and aviation.
These firms are positioned to benefit from sustained growth drivers that may support earnings expansion over multiple years.
Today, we identify three key players that would benefit from Asia’s tourism boom: CDL Hospitality Trusts (SGX: J85), Genting Singapore Ltd (SGX: G13), and SATS Ltd (SGX: S58).
CDL Hospitality Trusts (SGX: J85)
As one of Asia’s leading hospitality trusts, CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) holds a portfolio of hotels, resorts, and rental properties distributed across Singapore, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
The REIT’s large portfolio of properties enables the group to enjoy significant savings in procurement, and optimised operational and marketing frameworks.
However, the Group recorded mixed results for the first half of 2025.
Revenue declined by 1.7% YoY to S$125.1 million for 1H2025, with net property income (NPI) falling 11.9% YoY to S$58.6 million.
Despite that, hotel occupancy and room rates under CDLHT properties have improved over the past few years since the pandemic-era enforced lockdown.
In the first half of 2025, the group performed well in Japan, where the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) rose by 13.7% YoY, and in Perth, with a collective RevPAR growth of 15.9% YoY.
In the UK, hotels delivered a 13.1% YoY increase in NPI to S$7.0 million, while new living assets contributed S$3.7 million for 1H2025.
However, CDLHT’s Singapore hotels registered a 14.2% YoY decline in RevPAR for 1H2025, citing economic uncertainties, tariff concerns, and room closures due to renovations as reasons for the decline.
CDLHT’s revenue is directly correlated to the demand for the hospitality industry, and the business’ cyclical exposure means that any economic downturn, geopolitical issues, or disease outbreaks can impact CDLHT’s earnings.
Nonetheless, CDL Hospitality Trusts has strong fundamentals and recovery momentum, which positions them well in a hospitality tailwind.
Genting Singapore (SGX: G13)
Genting Singapore operates Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), one of Singapore’s two integrated resorts, featuring casinos, hotels, and attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore.
As the hospitality and travel industry came out of the shadows of COVID-19, Genting Singapore has benefited from higher visitor numbers in both its attractions and gaming sectors.
Recording S$1.2 billion in revenue for 1H2025, this reflected a 10% decrease in revenue compared to the year before.
The decline was attributed to renovation disruption for RWS 2.0, its S$6.8 billion plan to upgrade and expand, along with the closing of S.E.A. Aquarium in May and June.
The initiative is showing signs of traction, with higher VIP rolling volume as well as a visitor boost at Universal Studios Singapore from the successful launch of Illumination’s Minion Land in February 2025.
The Singapore Oceanarium, which opened in July 2025 at RWS, is likely to support recovery in the non-gaming segment with an improvement in visitor numbers for both locals and international tourists.
Despite regional competition, RWS attracts large volumes of VIP and mass gamblers from Malaysia, Indonesia and China.
For context, around 75% to 80% of its mass market customers come from outside Singapore.
Genting Singapore’s heavy reliance on international tourism inflows, which can fluctuate with global travel trends and macroeconomic conditions, presents a risk for investors.
In addition, with more than half of its revenue coming from the gaming sector, regulation remains a key concern for Genting Singapore.
SATS Ltd (SGX: S58)
A critical player in the aviation ecosystem, SATS Ltd is Singapore’s leading provider of ground handling and food solutions for airlines and airports, with operations spanning multiple countries.
Despite market volatility and disruptions to global trade flows due to tariffs, SATS Group achieved an increase of 9.9% YoY revenue in 1QFY2026.
Passenger volumes have rebounded sharply as air travel normalised, boosting demand for SATS’s ground handling services.
Gateway Services revenue rose 11.2% YoY to S$1.18 billion, and its Food Solutions revenue rose 5.6% YoY to S$328.3 million.
With the scale of economies brought about by the continuous volume growth in cargo and aviation food services, the group enjoys a cost advantage in comparison to smaller rivals.
Still, there is a downside to this.
SATS businesses are dependent on the smooth functioning of the airlines and airports, and disruptions of any kind, such as strikes, can raise costs and dampen service levels.
Issues such as geopolitical instability and economic downturns, which are out of the company’s control, can also significantly reduce its earnings.
Heavy reliance on a few. major customers exposes SATS to revenue concentration risk, where the loss of a key client could significantly impact financial results
While the external environment remains a concern, its scale and strategic position ensure SATS Ltd remains a central beneficiary of the tourism boom.
Get Smart: Opportunities Are There, But Beware
Asia’s tourism renaissance is unlocking new growth opportunities for companies positioned at the heart of the travel ecosystem.
CDL Hospitality Trusts maintains strong fundamentals and stands to benefit from the recovering travel boom.
Genting Singapore offers growth optionality via its expansion pipeline, but its gaming sector is at the mercy of the government’s regulations.
SATS Ltd benefits from both the increase in cargo and air traffic volume, but external environments can deal a significant blow to its businesses.
Each company offers distinct exposure to the tourism recovery.
Investors should consider the company’s valuations and risk factors, including cyclical volatility and geopolitical risks, against their financial goals when evaluation positions.
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Disclosure: Wenting does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned.
