Now that both the respective governments for both Australia and Singapore are in serious talks, things are looking promising for a proposed travel bubble between the two destinations.
What’s more is that the travel bubble could be coming at us as early as this July, which would mark the very first time everyday Aussie travellers could embark overseas without having to worry about a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.
Key discussions are ongoing, and could include New Zealand and pacific islands like Fiji as well. Although obviously none of this should be considered 100% until it actually happens, seeing as we’ve had potential travel bubbles with New Zealand halt in the past.
Speaking on Today, Australia’s Minister for Trade and Tourism, Dan Tehan, said that he would be involved in discussions with his Singaporean counterparts over the coming months to determine whether or not this travel bloc is feasible given the lingering issue of COVID-19, and assuming the smooth rollout of the associated vaccines.
Tehan indicated that he was optimistic that some sort of travel bubble could be up and running by the middle of this year, stating, “What we need to do is get people moving again [and with] the confidence to travel.”
According to Tehan, the most reasonable way for this to happen is various nations agreeing on a digital coronavirus vaccination travel passport, how such a document would be deployed, and how it would be managed at international borders.
“That will enable that two-way travel to occur, hopefully without quarantining down the track”.
It is worth noting that, while this is exciting news, Australia is not on track to finalise its vaccination program by July. This means that any eventuating travel bubble is more than likely going to be more beneficial for inbound travellers looking to return home, rather than outbound travellers thinking they are finally going to squeeze in a well-earned overseas holiday to Singapore, New Zealand, or one of the Pacific islands.
Although this isn’t the go-ahead to start packing those bags and dreaming of all those hawker centres that are peppered across Singapore, it’s at least some promise of what kind of travel will be possible once we established a global vaccination protocol.
No doubt more news about the Australia and Singapore travel bubble should become clearer in the coming months.
