It appears that avid tourists may soon be able to satisfy their wanderlust once again.
According to The Straits Times, leisure travel is expected to be available in due time…
Possibly as soon as the second half of 2021.
However, the move does come with its own set of cons:
Factors that would likely discriminate against the less well-off.
Leisure Travel Could Resume by Second Half of 2021, But Likely to be More Expensive and Exclusive
According to the news report, International Air Transport Association (Iata) director Alexandre de Juniac has delivered a hopeful verdict:
Personal and leisure travel may just be allowed to resume within this year.
After all, an Australia-Singapore travel bubble is currently in the works. A Taiwan-Singapore bubble could also be possible in the near future.
And Transport Minister Ong Ye Kyung’s revelation only served to support Alexandre’s view. According to the minister, bilateral travel corridors, which cater to vaccinated personnel from relatively safe places, could spawn in the second half of the year.
Additionally, Singapore Airlines recently trialled the lata travel pass – which allows passengers to “check through their Covid-19 test results and vaccination status”.
Should the trial be successful, it could be introduced on a global basis, kick-starting travel procedures without the need for stay-home notice or quarantine.
Factor in the global vaccine roll-out and demand for tourism and the signs are looking increasingly hopeful.
But It Could All Come At A Price
Initial stages are likely to prove costly, as countries seek to standardise travel procedures.
“Otherwise, we are back to seeking permission, like how we used to do for travel visas, to enter another country,” said Ms Shirley Tee, senior manager and course manager of hospitality and tourism management at Nanyang Polytechnic. “Back in the day, this was a time-consuming and expensive process.”
“I think the first tranche of leisure travel will be expensive and exclusive. Everyone will be wary of crowds.”
Tours are also likely to cost more, with demand outweighing supply by a large margin.
One telling indicator would be the flight price last year when the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble was first announced.
The price for a mere round-trip economy class ticket was inflated from around $400 to $1,100.
Additionally, new travel insurance policies, which will include pandemic-related content, are likely to hike up costs even further.
So all in all, it’s not all just fun and games when, if, leisure travel does become an occurrence in the latter half of 2021.
But considering the considerably starved appetites for travel, I doubt tourists would mind much.
Featured Image: SpaceKris / Shutterstock.com
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