Singapore allows vaccinated travellers from 8 countries to enter starting Tuesday
Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane scheme has approved travellers from 8 different countries to enter the country without quarantine as long as they are vaccinated. So far, around 2,400 people have been approved to enter under the new guidelines. The application process commenced last Wednesday, with travellers being officially allowed to enter this Tuesday.
Such countries that made the list include the US, UK and France. British citizen Daniel Emlyn-Jones was recently approved to enter under the scheme. He says he is travelling in December for a holiday and says the new scheme makes it less expensive to travel to Singapore.
“It was too expensive and difficult. But now because of the vaccinated travel lanes, it’s possible. Being Singapore, it’s dealt with extremely well, and they’re very careful and they have everything in place, you know, so I’m not worried at all in terms of coronavirus.”
The new Vaccinated Travel Lanes plan is extremely popular for travellers from the UK. Since the application opened, nearly 1,000 approvals have been issued to British visitors. The pass is also popular amongst French and Americans, as well. But of those entering the country under the pass, only 30% are tourists visiting the country for a short period of time. The rest are either student or employees on such long-term visas.
Vaccinated Singaporeans and permanent residents can enter the country automatically under the Vaccinated Travel Lane. Lavinia Rajaram, APAC Head of Communications at Expedia, described how Singaporean interest in travelling abroad has skyrocketed since announcing the Vaccinated Travel Lane plan last week. The top destinations considered for international travel are the US, UK and South Korea.
“We’re also seeing longer length of stays being considered for these outbound trends. Group sizes have increased, which could be an indication that families are starting to travel together.”
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
