Singapore - The Singapore Tourism Board on Wednesday announced a 90-million-Singapore-dollar (59.71-million-US-dollar) initiative to help the local tourism sector ride out the global economic downturn as the city-state was expecting a drop in tourism arrivals.

The board said the yearlong programme was to include a global marketing campaign with its main focus on attracting tourists from China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It also wants to woo visitors from emerging markets, such as Vietnam, and Changi Airport stopover travellers from Australia, Germany and Britain.

Aw Kah Peng, the board's chief executive officer, said the target was to get transit passengers to spend a night in Singapore.

She said about one-third of the 38 million passengers that came through Changi Airport last year did not leave the airport's terminals.

The board projected that tourists this year would number 9 million to 9.5 million with tourism receipts forecast at 12 billion to 12.5 billion Singapore dollars, down from last year's 10.1 million tourist arrivals and 14.8 billion Singapore dollars in tourism receipts.

Singapore's government has also announced a 20.5-billion-Singapore-dollar plan aimed at saving jobs and helping viable companies stay afloat during the economic slowdown. (dpa)