This year’s Orchard Road Christmas light-up is expected to see pre-pandemic levels of visitorship, though domestic visitors will still likely outnumber tourists, said organiser Orchard Road Business Association (Orba).

At a media conference on Thursday (Oct 26) to unveil this year’s Christmas On A Great Street light-up, Orba chairman Mark Shaw said he anticipates that this year’s light-up will draw five million to six million visitors, matching previous pre-pandemic turnouts.

In comparison, last year’s event – where festivities took place in-person for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic – drew over four million visitors across six weeks.

But Shaw noted that Singapore’s overall tourism arrivals have recovered to only about 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

“Traditionally, Orchard Road has always been a 50:50 (mix) of locals and tourists… I suspect there’ll be (slightly fewer) tourists, a lot more locals this year,” he said, making a comparison to pre-pandemic numbers.

Asked if visitorship is expected to be boosted by the return of Chinese tourists, Shaw replied: “It’s hard to tell, but obviously we’re hoping they will boost (the numbers) to Singapore.”

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Factors such as China’s economic slowdown and international flight connectivity would have an impact on such recovery, he added.

This year’s Christmas On A Great Street light-up along Orchard Road will incorporate more sustainability features, in line with Orba’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.

For the first time, two Christmas set pieces in front of Mandarin Gallery and Plaza Singapura will be powered by solar energy. Orba will be repurposing LED lights and fixtures from past year’s light-ups, on top of buying renewable energy credits from SP Group.

These efforts will save an estimated 4,000 trees, said Shaw. “Orba pledges that as much as the energy mix in Singapore and as much as technology and our budget permit, we will make Christmas On A Great Street greener each year.”

He declined to reveal the budget for this year’s light-up, which spans 3.1 km from Tanglin Mall to Plaza Singapura, and took about 16,500 man-hours to put up.

Meanwhile, the pedestrianisation of Orchard Road remains a “long-term goal” that depends on the efforts of multiple agencies, as well as how car-lite Singapore becomes, Shaw told The Business Times.

Highlights of this year’s Christmas On A Great Street include a Christmas Eve street party, with live music, dance performances, a Christmas market and food trucks.

There will be three Great Christmas Villages – up from one last year – featuring carnival rides and games, pop-up stores and food and beverage kiosks.

Visitors can also look forward to an augmented reality (AR) projection on the facade of Hilton Singapore Orchard, which they can view using the PopAR Live mobile app.

There will be AR displays on 25 glass panels lining the pedestrian walkway from Ion Orchard to Mandarin Gallery. This year’s light-up will take place from Nov 16 to Jan 1, 2024.