Issue #177: 5 Covid Travel Revival Projects We Often Forget in South East Asia
What's the legacy of Travel Bubbles, Vaccinated Travel Lanes & Cruises to Nowhere?
Greetings from a cool and cloudy Hong Kong, and welcome to Issue 177 of Asia Travel Re:Set.
Five years ago this week, South East Asia embarked on 2 years of border closures, lockdowns and quarantine mandates that suffocated international travel.
During those long dark days, various solutions were proposed (and tested) to revive travel despite rigid governmental regulations.
On this week’s The South East Asia Travel Show, we revisited those pandemic trains of thought - and their enduring importance.
Thanks for checking in…
5 Covid Travel Revival Projects We Often Forget in South East Asia
On this week’s The South East Asia Travel Show, we reassessed 12 Covid-era travel and tourism initiatives, schemes and sandboxes that redefined the decade.
Here are 5 pointers from our discussion, and - as ever - the full reveal comes from listening to the podcast.
1) Travel Bubbles
Anyone logged onto the (online-only) 2020 Skift Asia Forum, will recall the moment when Hong Kong and Singapore announced an Air Travel Bubble. On-screen chat messaging went into overdrive. Scheduled to begin on 22 November 2020, the “quarantine-free” air corridor involved rounds of Covid-19 testing and regulations, but was the first serious attempt to bring back cross-region flights in Asia Pacific.
Contrasting Covid policies by the 2 governments saw the scheme rescheduled to May 2021, and scrapped entirely in August 2021. Meantime, Australia and New Zealand got their own (partial) bilateral bubble into the air before it subsequently burst. The search for travel solutions was, however, under way,
2) Cruises to Nowhere
A notable irony of the Covid era was that cruise tourism - widely blamed for the initial virus outbreaks in Japan and Australia - was revived just a few months later in risk-averse Singapore.
Cruises to Nowhere were 2, 3 or 4-night cruises departing/returning to Singapore that operated at around 50% capacity. As the name implies, there were no port calls but plenty of onboard activities, themed entertainment and dining services, plus medical facilities and rigorous hygiene protocols. For Singaporeans with no recourse to overseas or even domestic travel, they proved a popular interim expedient.
3) Hybrid Meetings
Zoom webinars, conference calls and client catch-ups came into their own during those long years of lockdown. In late 2020 and early 2021, as it became clear that reopening was still a long way off, hotels and event venues began to invest in Hybrid Meetings technologies. Hybrid events were promoted in the context that post-Covid meetings and conventions might never be the same again.
4) The Phuket Sandbox
By late 2021, with vaccine programmes in place in most of ASEAN, stark economic realities pressed governments to remove quarantine mandates and reopen. But how? Thailand took the lead to bring back inbound tourism to South East Asia.
Launched on 1 July 2021, the Phuket Sandbox was designed to channel tourists to the island of Phuket, where they wouldn’t be subject to a formal quarantine, but would have to stay 14 days and take a series of Covid tests. It was administratively complex, and timing worked against it. Most of Thailand’s key Asian visitor markets were still closed, reducing the scope of potential visitors.
The Phuket Sandbox was replaced in November 2021 by the Test & Go scheme - opening up other Thai destinations to visitors from 63 markets. Although cautious in scope (see below) - and a product of exceptional circumstances - the Sandbox spawned various regional imitators and set ASEAN in motion to reopen for tourism.
[Check out this checklist needed to enter Phuket at the time: Thailand Pass, valid visa, vaccination certificate, printed certificate of an RT-PCR test within 72 hours before departure, Covid-19 travel insurance certificate, confirmation letter of SHA+ hotel booking, receipt of RT PCR Covid tests booking in Phuket, confirmed travel itinerary.]
5) Vaccinated Travel Lanes
With Thailand focusing on tourism, Singapore set out to restore inbound, outbound and transit air traffic to its economy - and resurrect Changi’s prized ‘hub’ status. On 8 September 2021, Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs) were launched with Germany and Brunei. Covid testing rules were in place, but Changi was open again for business.
More capacity-controlled VTLs took off in October, including Canada, France, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK and the US. A new Covid outbreak intervened in late 2021/early 2022, but the carefully managed and scaled-up VTL scheme provided a South East Asian template to restart international air travel.
Click the live link below to listen to 12 Things We Often Forget About the Covid Travel Era in South East Asia: Five Years of the Pandemic in Review…
Or search for The South East Asia Travel Show on any podcast app.
And, that’s a wrap for this week.
Asia Travel Re:Set will return next Sunday. Meantime, catch me on LinkedIn.
Happy travels,
Gary