Australia says working on travel bubble with Singapore

Australia says working on travel bubble with Singapore

Australia is "working with Singapore" to create a travel bubble between the two nations as early as July, officials said Sunday, in an effort to restart tourism and travel put on hold by Covid-19.

Early in the pandemic Australia effectively closed its international border to slow the spread of the coronavirus, with non-citizens banned from visiting except in special circumstances.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said Australia was "working with Singapore at the moment potentially for a bubble (beginning) in July".

"As the vaccine rolls out, not only in Australia but in other countries, we will reopen more bubbles," he told public broadcaster ABC.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the deal would allow Singaporeans and Australians who had been vaccinated to travel between the countries without quarantining.

The newspaper said Canberra is also hoping that people from third countries -- such as international students, business travellers and returning citizens -- could complete two weeks' quarantine in Singapore before flying to Australia.

Singapore has already opened its border to a handful of countries that have controlled the virus, including Australia, and officials have said the city-state would like to establish reciprocal travel corridors.

"If only others start to do it, then we'll have a bubble, you have reciprocity, you can start to travel. And I hope some time this year we can do that," transport minister Ong Ye Kung told local radio Friday.

Australia's 14-day hotel quarantine requirement for arrivals has left tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas, with caps on returnees introduced as the limited system has been unable to cope with large numbers.

International tourism -- worth about Aus$45 billion (US$35 billion) a year to the country's economy before the pandemic hit -- has evaporated.

Australia already has a one-way "travel bubble" with New Zealand, allowing Kiwis to visit without quarantining, though the scheme has been suspended a number of times in response to virus outbreaks.

澳大利亚表示与新加坡合作应对旅游泡沫

官员们周日表示，澳大利亚最早在7月与新加坡合作，在两国之间制造旅行泡沫，以重启Covid-19暂停的旅游业和旅行。

大流行初期，澳大利亚有效地关闭了其国际边界，以减缓冠状病毒的传播，除特殊情况外，非公民被禁止访问。

副总理麦考马克（Michael McCormack）表示，澳大利亚“目前正在与新加坡合作，有可能在7月出现泡沫（开始）”。

他对公共广播公司ABC说：“随着疫苗的推出，不仅在澳大利亚，而且在其他国家，我们将重新打开泡沫。”

《悉尼先驱晨报》报道说，这项协议将使已接种疫苗的新加坡人和澳大利亚人能够在两国之间旅行而无需隔离。

报纸说，堪培拉还希望来自第三国的人，例如国际学生，商务旅客和回国公民，能够在飞往澳大利亚之前在新加坡完成两周的隔离。

新加坡已经向包括澳大利亚在内的少数控制该病毒的国家开放了边境，官员们表示，新加坡希望建立互惠的旅行走廊。

交通部长王业功（Ong Ye Kung）周五对当地电台说：“如果只有其他人开始这样做，那么我们将陷入泡沫，相互交流，就可以开始旅行。我希望今年我们能做到这一点。”

澳大利亚对入境者14天的酒店检疫要求已经使成千上万的澳大利亚人滞留海外，对回返者设置了上限，因为有限的系统无法应付大量旅客。

大流行之前，国际旅游业对该国经济的年价值约为450亿澳元（350亿美元）。

澳大利亚已经与新西兰形成了一个单向的“旅行泡沫”，允许新西兰人无需隔离就可以访问，尽管该计划已因病毒爆发而被中止了多次。