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(CNN) – Singapore is set to launch a new segregated travel route for short-stay business travelers, Chan Chun Sing, the country’s trade and industry minister, announced on Tuesday through a post on his verified Facebook account.
The special travel line, called the Connect @ Singapore initiative, “will be open to a limited number of business, official and high-value travelers from all countries coming to Singapore for short stays of up to 14 days.” Chan said.
Applications for this initiative will open in mid-January 2021.
“We will make sure that strict health and testing protocols are in place,” Chan said.
He added that business travelers wishing to participate will have to “stay in a designated facility under the Connect @ Singapore initiative, undergo periodic routine testing, and strictly observe all Safe Management Measures in place.”
Chan said the initiative aims to boost Singapore’s global reputation and support the eventual economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
The bubble would have allowed air travel without quarantine between the two Asian hubs. But an increase in coronavirus infections in Hong Kong forced them to scrap the plan just 24 hours before its launch on November 22.
Travelers would have had to meet certain parameters before embarking, such as not having traveled in the previous 14 days and undergoing mandatory Covid-19 tests. But they would not be subject to any quarantine requirement or stay-at-home notice, or a controlled itinerary, upon arrival.
However, the arrangement always included the warning that if the Covid-19 situation deteriorated in any of the cities, the plan would be suspended.
