Southeast Asians are skipping trips to the US this yr — for quite a lot of reasons.
Singaporeans, nevertheless, are rejecting it at greater levels than others, a survey of 6,000 regional travelers showed.
The survey commissioned by CNBC Travel showed 7% of Singaporeans said their interest in visiting the U.S. increased this yr, while greater than half (55%) said their interest had decreased.
Each numbers veer sharply from the 44% of Southeast Asian respondents who said their interest within the U.S. increased this yr, and the 18% who said it fell, in keeping with the survey conducted by the market research company Milieu Insight.
Repeatedly, the survey showed that Singaporeans’ views of the U.S. differed from those from Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia — often by a large margin.
Singaporeans were the one respondents within the survey to say that they still get most of their information from local and international news. Respondents from the opposite five countries, including 80% of those from Thailand, said social media is their primary news source.
Higher levels of concern
The survey, which was conducted from May 22 to June 10, showed Singaporeans are more concerned about traveling to the U.S. than others within the region, in relation to:
- their personal safety within the U.S. (+13 percentage points)
- possible discrimination or poor treatment while there (+17 percentage points)
- actions by the Trump administration (+18 percentage points)
- gun violence (+20 percentage points)
- border detentions (+13 percentage points)
Since Singapore has low crime rates, its residents have high safety expectations, said Zilmiyah Kamble, a senior lecturer for hospitality and tourism management at James Cook University.
The country often ranks as certainly one of the safest countries on the planet.
Singaporean Kimberly Kwok said she’s steering clear of the U.S. this yr, she said.
“I have never been too particularly considering going to the U.S., mostly due to my safety,” she said. “You see a variety of articles on the news about hate crimes against Asians — and likewise the firearms.”
Singaporean university student Cayla Tham also said guns, which are usually not common in Southeast Asian societies, have dampened her interest in visiting the U.S.
Politics and tariffs aren’t her primary concerns, she said. Quite, “it’s more about how firearms are allowed. I feel like [regulations] are usually not really enforced.”
Visas and detentions
The survey showed that Singaporeans are less fearful than other respondents about two issues: travel costs and visa requirements.
In early 2025, the Henley Passport Index showed that Singapore had the strongest passport on the planet.
Nonetheless, Singaporeans were the least confident about passing through U.S. immigration controls, the survey showed. Some 60% said they felt the method could be smooth, in comparison with 78% of those from other parts of Southeast Asia.
“When I am going to immigration, I could be fearful if whether I will be detained simply because I’m [ethnically] Chinese,” Singaporean Tiffany Ng told CNBC.
Ng said her perception of the U.S. has modified, specifically during the last six months.
“I feel that it’s turn into more of an unsafe place,” she said. “It seems quite unsettled.”
Singaporean citizen Rahul Jain said the U.S. just isn’t in his travel list this yr. He recalled experiencing “a number of scrutiny, a number of checks” from U.S. immigration authorities up to now.
But for him, the problems are deeper, he said.
“The violence there, the crime there, the poverty,” he said. “I’m sure the situation there just isn’t as bad because the media makes it out to be, but … why take a probability?”
