Singapore Awaiting Tourists from Taiwan
As Singapore has agreed to relax border restrictions for travelers from Taiwan, it's casino sector will soon have a new stream of potential tourists. Taiwanese visitors will begin their visit to Singapore starting on December 18 with some required security checks.
Taiwan hasn't registered any new COVID-19 infections in the last 28 days. That made it a great travel partner, said Minister of Transport in Singapore Ong Ye Kung. He declared Taiwan to be "very safe partner to do a unilateral opening".
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) agreed with the evaluation, noting that Taiwan had a "comprehensive public health surveillance system and has displayed successful control over the spread of the COVID-19 virus".
The CAAS has noted that someone arriving from Taiwan must have spent the previous 14 consecutive days there, and can only come on direct flights without transit. They must also take a COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, download the "TraceTogether" tracking software and apply for an "Air Travel Pass". But if they test negative for the virus, visitors don't have to quarantine.
Since this was a one-sided decision on Singapore's end, they advise that travelers should "check the entry requirements imposed by Taiwan and take the necessary precautionary measures". But Singapore will encourage you to return to Taiwan once your trip is over.
That said, Taiwan has recently reduced its own restrictions on Singapore, cutting quarantine periods to only five days for "important" business travelers. If Singapore maintains its own risk of infection with COVID-19 down, one can expect those limitations would be more reduced.
Also for Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Mainland China, New Zealand and Vietnam, Singapore has lifted border restrictions. It has also had a travel contract with Hong Kong since late November, but due to increasing COVID-19 prices in the Chinese special administration area it has yet to launch the program.
Singapore has two casino resorts, the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. For Q3 2020, the former was the only healthy fund in Las Vegas Sands, taking in $70 million but dropping 84% year on year. Resorts World has made a profit of $40.4 million, but also declined 66% toward 2019. Both resorts have sought to turn to local tourists to keep income flowing in, but due to safety concerns and general loss of interest, they have seen dwindling crowds overall, making more foreign visitors a target.
