The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has projected visitor arrivals to be between 13.5 and 14.5 million this year, an increase of up to 10 per cent from 2011.
The growth will be slower than the 13.8 per cent pace achieved in 2011.
STB also projected tourism receipts to reach S$23 billion to S$24 billion this year, an increase of up to 8 per cent from last year.
Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran revealed the figures at the annual Tourism Industry Conference on Friday.
It was held at the MAX Atria @ Singapore Expo and attended by more than 800 industry partners.
Singapore's tourism industry has done well in the past two years, but STB wants to focus on growing Singapore's share of the tourism pie by increasing the amount of money visitors spend while in Singapore.
From a low of S$12.6 billion in 2009, tourism receipts have more than doubled to S$22.2 billion in 2011.
The government will pump S$640 million to seed new tourism projects over five years.
Three new areas of growth have also been identified.
One area is to build up the cruise tourism, starting with the opening of the new International Cruise Terminal later this year.
Aw Kah Peng, CEO of Singapore Tourism Board, said: "We think there's a lot of untapped potential in cruising. Southeast Asia as a whole region is really interesting for cruising because of the many islands that form the archipelago of Indonesia, as well as Philippines and the long wonderful coastlines of our neighbours like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. We think that Southeast Asia can be the next Mediterranean when it comes to cruising."
She added: "We have invested in the international cruise terminal to essentially double our berthing capacity. We believe infrastructure is really just a first step. Cruise lines will come to Singapore firstly because the destination is interesting and exciting, and secondly because the right infrastructure is here to support them in order for them to deliver experiences to their passengers."
The government said another area for good growth potential is the arts and entertainment sector. So in the next phase of development, it is looking forward to co-creating and anchoring more signature content such as arts and music festivals to attract more visitors to Singapore.
A third area of growth is the travel agent industry. This means local travel agents with established outbound businesses will be given more help to grow inbound traffic.
STB also wants to attract global companies to set up innovative inbound operations in Singapore that draw traffic into Singapore and the region.
The two integrated resorts have also contributed to increased visitor arrivals. And to help casino operators extend their international reach, Singapore's Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) awarded junket licences to two Malaysian operators on Thursday.
Twelve applications were rejected.
Mr Iswaran said: "That should give all of us a measure of the way CRA intends to go about this process. In general, if there is any indication of non-compliance or any other kinds of potential problems, clearly the persons or entity will not be eligible for the licence.
"In addition, it is a one-year licence and there are several safeguards built into it and there will be ongoing monitoring."
And to help companies deal with the challenging domestic environment, the government will channel S$265 million to help companies increase their capabilities and workers' productivity.
STB will build on the Workforce Development Agency's and the Employment and Employability Institute's (e2i) basic tourism-related training to support more advanced, specialist training in key areas like conference management and attractions operations.
The government is also exploring the development of tourism-related scholarships to groom the next generation of industry captains and talent from the existing pool of middle managers and entry-level workers.
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