Indonesian Tourists Vital to Revival of Singapore’s Travel Industry

KOMPAS.com – The sheer number of Indonesian tourists that flocked to Singapore pre-pandemic holds the key to the recovery of the city-state’s travel industry.

Singapore’s tourist demographic in terms of countries are dominated by China in the first place followed by Indonesia.

“Based on our 2019 data, the number of Indonesian tourists entering Singapore reached 3.1 million people,” stated a representative of the Singapore Tourism Board Indonesia Area, Mohamed Firhan Abdul Salam.

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Since the city-state’s border closure took effect on February 2020 due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Singapore has seen a 99.9 percent drop in tourist arrivals.

Conditions to Its Open Borders

Although Singapore has reopened its borders, Indonesian tourists and other travelers are prohibited from entering for leisure purposes.

Currently, the country strictly allows essential business travels or urgent diplomatic or public duties which must be approved by a relevant Singaporean company or government agency.

Essential business travelers, including those from Indonesia, only have a maximum of 10 days to stay in the country in which the length of stay cannot be extended.

Read also: Indonesia, Singapore Form Travel Bubble for Essential Trips amid Covid-19 Pandemic

“A person must receive an endorsement or have prior approval before landing in Singapore. Thus, before they arrive, they must submit a request or permission to enter the country including providing information on their travel purpose, whom they will be meeting with, then it will be reviewed.”

Once business travelers from Indonesia have received approval, they can then proceed in booking their flights and other needs.

Upon landing in Singapore, Indonesian travelers must strictly carry out the activities they stated in their request thus will not be able to go shopping or visit tourist attractions as had regularly been done pre-pandemic.

Therefore, if Indonesian tourists are permitted to enter Singapore for a three-day event, then they will have to directly return home once the event finishes and forego any opportunity to visit friends, families, or exploring the city-state.

(Writer & Editor: Anggara Wikan Prasetya)

Source: https://travel.kompas.com/read/2020/11/27/091548327/indonesia-jadi-pasar-penting-untuk-pulihkan-industri-travel-singapura