Singapore’s authorities announced on Thursday the city-state will begin allowing travellers setting off from either Macau or Hong Kong quarantine-free entry, starting from August 26. The measure is not reciprocal, meaning people travelling from Singapore to either Macau or Hong Kong will still have to comply with quarantine protocols in those cities, as well as with other applicable travel restrictions.
Short-term visitors to Singapore that have been in either Macau or Hong Kong in the previous 21 consecutive days will be eligible to apply for an air travel pass for entry into Singapore. They will have to take a Covid-19 test upon arrival, but will no longer be required to serve a stay-home notice. Such travellers also will not need to be vaccinated for Covid-19, but will have to buy travel insurance covering Covid-19-related medical and hospitalisation expenses.
Singapore also announced plans for a quarantine-free travel corridor with Germany and Brunei respectively, starting in September. The measure will apply to fully-vaccinated travellers departing from either of those countries.
Meanwhile, the city-state and Hong Kong dropped plans for a ‘travel bubble’ between the two cities, citing different approaches in each cities’ strategy to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
Singapore currently operates a duopoly casino market shared between the Marina Bay Sands resort, run by a subsidiary of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp; and the Resorts World Sentosa casino complex operated by Genting Singapore Ltd. Investment analysts have said that Singapore’s casino resorts had pre-crisis depended on foreign tourists for much of their earnings.
