Tourism Australia has seen a spike in interest for its Aussie Specialist Program, an online training resource for the outbound travel trade, among agents in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Across these three markets, Tourism Australia has conducted over 90 online training sessions over the last six months, reaching a cumulative audience of more than 17,000 people, shared Brent Anderson, regional general manager, South & Southeast Asia, Tourism Australia.
Spanning a spectrum of topics from nature and wildlife, food and drink, to self-drive holidays, the sessions were presented by the programme’s trainers, alongside members of the Australian tourism industry.
Anderson said: “We know that safety and security will always be a top factor for travellers from our region, even more so in the new travel environment. We believe Australia’s wide open spaces, national parks and wildlife encounters will be key experiences travellers will look for, and one of the best ways to experience these would be on a self-drive holiday.”
He urged visitors to venture beyond city tours to explore regional areas and the outback, many of which, such as the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Kangaroo Island in South Australia and the Scenic Rim in Queensland, were badly affected by last year’s bushfires.
“Our Aussie Specialists are a great resource to help travellers plan and book their Australian holiday for when border restrictions are eventually lifted and travel resumes,” he said. “So they are even better equipped with information on planning a safe and enjoyable holiday in Australia.”
Singapore will lift border restrictions for visitors from mainland China and the state of Victoria in Australia, from November 6.
They will have to undergo a Covid-19 test upon arrival at the airport and will not need to serve a quarantine order if the result is negative.
The same applies to Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders returning from these two areas from November 6.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Thursday that both mainland China and Victoria were added to the list of countries that Singapore has unilaterally opened its borders to as they have comprehensive public health surveillance systems and had displayed successful control over the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
The risk of importation from these places is low, it added, noting that mainland China has a virus local incidence rate of 0.00009 cases per 100,000 people, while Victoria has a rate of 0.099 cases per 100,000 people.
Visitors travelling from both places can now apply for an Air Travel Pass (ATP) for entry into Singapore from November 6.
Applicants must have remained in either mainland China or Australia in the last 14 consecutive days prior to their entry. All visitors must also travel to Singapore on direct flights without transit.
During their stay, they will be required to use the TraceTogether app for contact tracing purposes, and must also bear any medical costs related to Covid-19.
CAAS said that it will also update the travel advisory to allow travel to mainland China and all of Australia.
This latest initiative follows the earlier lifting of border restrictions for visitors from Australia, excluding Victoria state; Brunei Darussalam; New Zealand and Vietnam.
As of October 29, CAAS has approved 1,375 applications from these places, and received 602 visitors, none of whom have tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival, according to the aviation authority.