Coronavirus: in Thailand and Singapore, Omicron hits Asia’s nascent tourism revival
- Singapore has frozen new ticket sales for flights and buses in its vaccinated travel lane scheme until January 20
- Tourism operators fear Thailand’s move to suspend its quarantine-free programme will see further lay-offs and hardship
She soon started getting hotel bookings from Russian and Central Asian travellers who were interested in the “sandbox” initiative, which is open to all jabbed guests who must remain in a specific city or province for seven days before travelling to elsewhere and the “Test and Go” scheme – launched in November as Thailand reopened – where vaccinated visitors from select countries can avoid quarantine if they have a negative Covid-19 test result.
“The number of those who made bookings was less than in pre-Covid times but it gave my business the lifeline it needed and allowed me to continue,” Bee said.
Thailand’s decision on Tuesday to temporarily suspend the Test and Go arrangement – except to the resort island of Phuket until January 4 – dashed her hopes of recouping lost earnings during the traditionally-busy Christmas season.
Since November, 200,000 people had registered for the quarantine waiver and sandbox programmes and 110,000 of these have already visited Thailand. The remaining visitors can still enter but must undergo more tests and will be closely tracked by health authorities.
