Travel searches for Singapore pick up as city eases Covid curbs

More people are looking to travel to Singapore as the city-state eases virus rules. Travel-related searches on Google for the island destination have jumped, particularly from neighbouring Malaysia, as well as Indonesia, India and Australia, according to data tracked by economists at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd. Singapore has led other Southeast Asian nations in scrapping pandemic travel curbs after adopting a policy of living with the virus. Last week, it became one of the first major regional economies to announce it will end all testing for vaccinated travellers, starting on Tuesday. Similar moves by places like Thailand are also helping to spur a regional travel recovery, according to Catherine So, APAC managing director for Expedia Group. Bookings for travel from Singapore to Thailand nearly doubled after the latter said it will end mandatory on-arrival Covid tests from May 1. “With the easing of measures by countries in the Asia-Pacific region, especially those in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, we’re beginning to see the return of demand for intra-Asia travel,” So said. One major exception -- China, which remains committed to a Covid-Zero policy. It was Singapore’s largest source of tourists before the pandemic, accounting for almost 20% of the island’s 19.1m arrivals in 2019, Singapore Tourism Board data show.<br/>