ISE05/20-21
| Subject: | economic development, tourism, travel bubble, COVID-19 |
- The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") has precipitated the implementation of a range of travel-control measures by governments worldwide to contain the spread of the pandemic. These measures include temporary entry bans on travellers arriving from high-risk areas, requirements for travellers to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival, and official advisories against all non-essential travel abroad.
- Worldwide travel restrictions have made long periods of separation between family members living in different places. They have also paralyzed global tourism and travel industry1Legend symbol denoting According to the World Tourism Organization (2020c), international tourist arrivals decreased by 70% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2020. Hong Kong is not immune from the global downturn. There were 9 132 tourist arrivals in September 2020, compared with 3.1 million a year ago. For the first nine months of 2020, overall tourist arrivals to Hong Kong plunged by 92% year-on-year or a reduction of 43 million in absolute terms., a key growth driver in most countries around the world for its contribution to GDP growth and job creation. In some countries where the COVID-19 pandemic has been under control, initial sweeping travel restrictions have recently been replaced by more fine-tuned policies to resume the movement of people for business, travel and family visits in a selected and controlled manner2Legend symbol denoting According to the European Commission (2020b), smooth and safe travel is important not only to put the economy back on the path to recovery, but also for social and family considerations. As soon as the epidemiological situations allow it, people need to be able to travel safely to be reunited with their families.. They have unilaterally re-opened their borders to travellers arriving from low-risk areas. There are also cases of two or more countries establishing a travel bubble allowing travellers flying between them without lengthy quarantine.
- Hong Kong reached an in-principle agreement with Singapore to establish a bilateral air travel bubble on 14 October 20203Legend symbol denoting Before that, the Government unveiled in early September of holding discussions with 11 countries about setting up travel bubbles. These 11 countries were Germany, France, Switzerland, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.. The key features of the agreement, which is expected to be launched in late November 20204Legend symbol denoting See 政府新聞處(2020年)., include: mandatory quarantine to be replaced by mutually recognized COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction ("PCR") tests before departure; no restrictions on traveller's itinerary or purpose of travel; dedicated flights that do not accept transit passengers; and instant review should circumstances change.
- This issue of Essentials studies the global easing of travel restrictions with special reference to Singapore5Legend symbol denoting COVID-19 prevalence rate in Singapore, as calculated by taking the percentage of total confirmed cases to total population, was about 1% as at end-October 2020. In the second half of October 2020, average daily confirmed case was less than 10 cases. See Ministry of Health (2020). which has taken the initiative to re-open its border to and establish travel bubbles with 10 jurisdictions, of which Hong Kong is the latest to join the list. This is followed by a discussion of guidelines issued respectively by (a) the European Commission for how the European Union ("EU") member states can re-open their external borders to third countries; and (b) the International Air Transport Association ("IATA")6Legend symbol denoting IATA is the trade association of the world's international airline industry. From 57 founding members in 1945, IATA now represents some 290 airlines in 120 countries. Carrying 82% of the world's air traffic, IATA members include the world's leading passenger and cargo airlines. to qualify some of the components and requirements to assist governments and other stakeholders contemplating the implementation of travel bubbles.
Global easing of travel restrictions
- A number of countries currently require all eligible travellers (including local residents) arriving from overseas to undergo a 14-day quarantine at a designated location (home or other accommodation). While that works for people returning home or staying in a destination long-term, the 14-day quarantine is not ideal for most travellers.
- Against the above, a majority of global destinations surveyed by the World Tourism Organization7Legend symbol denoting See World Tourism Organization (2020a). (53%) have now started easing travel restrictions as the virus is better under control. Some allow visitors to enter without lengthy quarantine if they come from places with low levels of infection. The problem with unilateral reopening is that would-be visitors may still face mandatory self-isolation or quarantine on their return home. One way to avoid this is to set up travel bubbles allowing unrestricted travel between two or more countries without lengthy quarantine.
- Travel bubbles, also called travel corridors or air bridges, join countries that have similar levels of success in containing COVID-19 pandemic within their respective borders and believe in each other's testing and case numbers. In a travel bubble, partner countries agree to open up their borders to each other and allow healthy residents to travel freely across borders without the need for mandatory on-arrival 14-day quarantine. Since access is exclusive to members of each bubble, there should be little risk of infected travellers arriving from outside the bubble.
- As countries begin to ease travel restrictions8Legend symbol denoting For example, China and South Korea established the first travel bubble in Asia on 1 May 2020. The agreement is limited to business travellers who need to be invited by a company in the receiving country. On 11 June 2020, the European Commission recommended to lift internal border controls within the EU. Yet, in view of resurgence of confirmed cases across Europe in October 2020, some EU countries have reintroduced border control measures on temporary basis. See European Commission (2020f)., Singapore has been among the most pro-active in opening its borders to travellers from places where the virus has been brought under control. Before reaching an in-principle travel bubble agreement with Hong Kong, Singapore has already allowed visitors from some countries to enter the country through (a) unilateral arrangements under the Air Travel Pass ("unilateral-ATP") scheme; (b) bilateral arrangements under the Safe Travel Pass ("bilateral-STP") scheme; and (c) the Periodic Commuting Arrangement9Legend symbol denoting The Periodic Commuting Arrangement differs from the unilateral-ATP and bilateral-STP schemes. It is a scheme agreed between Singapore and Malaysia to allow work and business-related travel between the two countries via the land border crossings at the Johor-Singapore Causeway and Malaysia-Singapore Second Link..
- Singapore has been cautious about easing travel restrictions with its partner countries without triggering resurgence in infections. It has adopted a layered approach to border opening, starting well in advance of leaving the home country. As discussed below, unilateral-ATP/bilateral-STP visitors travelling are obliged to follow strict health protocols before departure from the home country; upon arrival at the destination airport; and during their stay in the destination country. Furthermore, bilateral-STP visitors are subject to additional restrictions on their itineraries and purpose of travel to Singapore. As to the latter, Singapore confines travel bubbles to essential business and official trips. According to IATA10Legend symbol denoting See International Air Transport Association (2020c)., limiting the eligibility in the initial stage of the travel bubble can help in the identification of any operation issues while allowing for passenger confidence to build over time.
Entering Singapore under Air Travel Pass scheme
- Singapore has unilaterally eased restrictions on travellers coming from Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam before reciprocal arrangements are made. All forms of short-term travel, including leisure travel, are allowed. Visitors are required to apply for a unilateral-ATP11Legend symbol denoting To apply for unilateral-ATP, the traveller should provide information such as (a) personal data; (b) health condition; and (c) flight details. An ATP is valid for single entry into Singapore and application must be made 7-30 days before travel. for their entry into Singapore, and comply with the conditions of the unilateral-ATP scheme. These include travelling on direct flight without transit, undergoing a COVID-19 PCR test upon arrival in Singapore, remaining isolated for one to two days until the test result is confirmed to be negative, and downloading the TraceTogether app12Legend symbol denoting TraceTogether is a mobile app jointly developed by Singapore's Government Technology Agency and Ministry of Health to support nationwide efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through community-driven contact tracing. Through the exchange of short-distance Bluetooth signals between mobile phones with the installed app, each phone can detect other participating TraceTogether phones that are in close proximity. The Bluetooth proximity data are encrypted and stored on each user's phone. When an app user tests positive for COVID-19, he or she will be asked by the Ministry of Health to share the data logged to speed up contact tracing. TraceTogether does not collect or track location data. and keeping it activated during their stay in Singapore to facilitate the contact tracing process.
Entering Singapore under Safe Travel Pass scheme
- Singapore has also formally established travel bubbles with countries with equivalent or lower risk, through the launch of Fast Lane arrangements with China and South Korea as well as Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements with Japan, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia. These travel bubbles are to facilitate business and official travels between Singapore and its partner countries under similar reciprocal arrangement.
- To enter Singapore under the Fast Lane and Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements, visitors must be sponsored by a Singaporean-based company or a Singapore government agency, which will file an application on behalf of the traveller for a bilateral-STP13Legend symbol denoting Documents required for the application of bilateral-STP vary depending on the origins of the travellers. In general, the sponsoring company/agency should submit the following information of the traveller: (a) proof of residency from his or her home country; (b) confirmed flight details; (c) proof of accommodation in Singapore; and (d) the itinerary for the first 14 days in Singapore. STP is valid for single entry into Singapore, and application is open between two to five weeks before the week of the traveller's planned departure.. Bilateral-STP comes with conditions of travel that the applicant must comply with, which include (a) taking a COVID-19 PCR test prior to travel and upon arrival; and (b) following a pre-declared controlled itinerary for the first 14 days of stay in Singapore, which is confined to travel between places of business and accommodation with limited contact with the community.
Figure 1 - Entering Singapore under Air Travel Pass/Safe Travel Pass scheme
| Note: (1) | A unilateral-ATP/bilateral-STP traveller must upload all data in the TraceTogether app upon request by the Singapore's Ministry of Health, should he or she test positive for COVID-19 while in Singapore or in the 14 days after leaving Singapore. |
| Source: Various government websites. | |
Travelling from Singapore under Fast Lane/Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements
- As for travelling from Singapore to its partner countries under the Fast Lane and Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements, the requirements and processes are similar to those entering Singapore under bilateral-STP scheme (Figure 2).
Figure 2 - Travelling from Singapore through Fast Lane and Reciprocal Green Lane arrangements
Source: Various government websites.
Guidelines issued by the European Commission and IATA
- Singapore is indeed one of the many countries currently striving to ease their travel restrictions to restart tourism and travel despite pandemic. As the international aviation industry starts to reopen, there is much focus on how to resume travel safely with health risks minimized. In June 2020, the European Commission issued guidance on the criteria which the EU member states should consider when they unilaterally open their external borders to third countries14Legend symbol denoting The EU lifted internal border controls in June 2020 allowing residents of member states to travel freely across each other's borders. In July 2020, it went further ahead with unilaterally lifting external borders to some third countries, although member states can choose not to allow in travellers from these countries.. Key criteria to be assessed in relation to an eligible third country include:
(a) epidemiological situation - restriction on travel should be lifted first with third countries that have a comparable or better epidemiological situation as the average EU member countries in terms of the number of new cases, trend in new infection rate, and the ability to test, trace, contain, treat and report on the pandemic; (b) the ability to apply containment measures, such as physical distancing, throughout a journey from origin and destination; and (c) reciprocity - whether the third country has lifted travel restrictions toward the EU citizens. - Meanwhile, IATA issued an information paper in July 2020 to qualify some of the components and requirements for establishing an effective travel bubble. According to IATA, a country can be classified as (a) no transmission or minimal transmission; (b) medium transmission; or (c) high transmission based on its COVID-19 transmission level ("CTL"). While there is no universally accepted methodology for measuring a country's CTL15Legend symbol denoting For example, the World Health Organization ("WHO") classifies countries based on the nature of transmission within a given country. The following classification categories are used: (a) no confirmed cases; (b) sporadic cases; (c) clusters of cases; and (d) community transmission. Within the EU, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reports the number of COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100 000 inhabitants. Unlike the measure used by WHO, this measure is dynamic and reflects the current situation rather than the overall burden of the pandemic., the following elements as suggested by IATA should be taken into account for the risk measurement:
(a) current infection rates relative to population size; (b) trend in infection rates (decreasing, stable or increasing) compared with a previous time period; and (c) effectiveness of overall public health response to COVID-19 in each country. - Based on the risk measurement, IATA suggests the adoption of the following principles for establishing an effective travel bubble:
(a) there is little justification for implementation of any extraordinary restrictions such as quarantine, self-isolation or testing for travel between two countries with equivalent CTLs16Legend symbol denoting Logically speaking, an arriving passenger would be expected to be no more likely to be infectious than a member of the general population in the destination country. or from a lower CTL to higher CTL country (i.e. Basic Travel Bubble ("BTB")17Legend symbol denoting BTB only requires standard set of public health risk mitigation measures. Specifically, it features no quarantine or self-isolation requirement on arrival; no specific testing requirements on arrival or departure; basic screening on departure or arrival (during the active phase of the pandemic), and contact tracing and health declarations.); (b) it is practical to implement additional measures (specifically testing prior to departure) for passengers from a higher CTL country travelling to a lower CTL country (i.e. Limited Travel Bubble ("LTB")); (c) countries deemed to be high CTL would inevitably result in the implementation of quarantine or self-isolation measure which would automatically make them ineligible to be considered for travel bubbles; (d) the above should be looked as a broad guideline and countries can choose to implement more stringent restrictions. For example, they can establish Extended Travel Bubble ("ETB"), instead of LTB, with a requirement for testing both before departure and upon arrival; and (e) a country's CTL may change for the better or worse and the travel bubble agreement should be flexible to allow for the possibility of revising from LTB to ETB or vice versa. Or the countries may mutually decide that the travel bubble is no longer viable if a partner country's CTL changes to high transmission level.
Concluding remarks
- The global tourism and travel industry is likely to struggle until a vaccine is widely available, and travel bubbles offer a flexible solution to restart the industry amid countries/places with different COVID-19 infection rates. As countries/places begin to ease trade restrictions, there can be a variance in the related rules depending on the agreements.
- In an effort to balance between reviving economic activities and fulfilling public health requirements, Singapore has adopted a more selected and controlled manner as evidenced by the various health protocols required of the unilateral-ATP/bilateral-STP scheme. Specifically, these include (a) the application for unilateral-ATP/bilateral-STP and submission of pre-trip health, travel history and accommodation declarations before arrival; (b) mandatory COVID-19 tests for unilateral-ATP/bilateral-STP travellers upon arrival and various health protocols before the release of the test results; and (c) activating the TraceTogether contact tracking app during the stay in Singapore. For bilateral-STP travellers, they are further subject to the requirement of taking COVID-19 tests before departure from their home countries, as well as the restriction to their itineraries or on the purposes of their travel to Singapore.
Prepared by Gary NG
Research Office
Information Services Division
Legislative Council Secretariat
3 November 2020
Endnotes:
| Hong Kong
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| 1. | coronavirus.gov.hk. (2020)
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| 2. | GovHK. (2020a) Hong Kong and Singapore reach in-principle agreement to establish bilateral Air Travel Bubble.
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| 3. | GovHK. (2020b) Press Release: LCQ12: "New Normal" of co-existence with virus.
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| 4. | GovHK. (2020c) Travel bubble talks underway.
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| 5. | partnernet.hktb.com. (2020)
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| 6. | 政府新聞處：《行政長官於行政會議前會見傳媒開場發言及答問內容》，2020年10月27日。
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| Singapore
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| 7. | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. (2020) Joint Press Statement by H.E. Retno L.P. Marsudi Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and H.E. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore on the Reciprocal Green Lane/Travel Corridor Arrangement for Essential Business and Official Travel Between Indonesia and Singapore.
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| 8. | Ministry of Health. (2020)
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| 9. | Safe Travel. (2020)
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| 10. | Singapore Tourism Board. (2020)
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| 11. | The Business Times. (2020) Relaxed travel measures aimed at reviving business, aviation sector: Ong Ye Kung.
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| Others
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| 12. | European Centre for Disease Protection and Control. (2020) COVID-19 country overviews.
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| 13. | European Commission. (2020a) Coronavirus: Commission recommends partial and gradual lifting of travel restrictions to the EU after 30 June, based on common coordinated approach.
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| 14. | European Commission. (2020b) Communication from the Commission COVID-19. Paper No. C(2020) 3250 final.
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| 15. | European Commission. (2020c) Communication from the Commission. Paper No. C(2020) 3139 final.
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| 16. | European Commission. (2020d) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council. Paper No. COM(2020) 399 final.
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| 17. | European Commission. (2020e) Re-open EU: Commission launches a website to safely resume travelling and tourism in the EU.
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| 18. | European Commission. (2020f) Temporary Reintroduction of Border Control.
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| 19. | International Air Transport Association. (2020a) A COVID risk assessment framework to support recovery of air travel.
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| 20. | International Air Transport Association. (2020b) Restarting International Aviation through 'Travel Bubbles'.
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| 21. | International Air Transport Association. (2020c) Travel Bubbles - An information paper.
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| 22. | International Air Transport Association. (2020d) Travel Bubbles, Risk Assessment Framework and Testing.
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| 23. | Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea (2020). Fast Track Procedure available for applicable Koreans Entering China for business purpose.
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| 24. | Re-open EU. (2020)
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| 25. | United States Food and Drug Administration. (2020) Coronavirus Testing Basics.
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| 26. | World Tourism Organization. (2020a) More than 50% of Global Destinations are Easing Travel Restrictions - but Caution Remains.
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| 27. | World Tourism Organization. (2020b) UNWTO World Tourism Barometer May 2020: Special focus on the Impact of COVID-19.
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| 28. | World Tourism Organization. (2020c) UNWTO Tourism Data Dashboard.
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Essentials are compiled for Members and Committees of the Legislative Council. They are not legal or other professional advice and shall not be relied on as such. Essentials are subject to copyright owned by The Legislative Council Commission (The Commission). The Commission permits accurate reproduction of Essentials for non-commercial use in a manner not adversely affecting the Legislative Council. Please refer to the Disclaimer and Copyright Notice on the Legislative Council website at www.legco.gov.hk for details. The paper number of this issue of Essentials is ISE05/20-21.