Singapore visitor arrivals slip 0.5 pct in Oct

SINGAPORE Nov 24 (Reuters) - Visitor arrivals in Singapore in October fell 0.5 percent from a year earlier, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Tuesday.

The STB said there were 845,000 visitors in October. The total days spent by tourists in Singapore fell 4.6 percent to 3.3 million.

Average hotel room rates fell 24.2 percent to S$181 ($131). Occupancy rose 0.8 percentage points from a year ago to 82.7 percent, the highest for the year.

Singapore is trying to expand tourism as part of efforts to reduce economic reliance on manufacturing. Two casinos -- one operated by Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N) and the other by Genting Singapore GNTG.SI -- are scheduled to open next year. ($1=1.385 Singapore Dollar) (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Neil Chatterjee) ((nopporn.wong-anan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5665)) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))