The Southeast Asian business and tourism hotspot of Singapore has announced that it is adding eight more countries to its Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) scheme. As of Tuesday, October 19, fully vaccinated travelers from those nations will be allowed to enter the country without quarantine.
New additions to the list are Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S., as CNBC had announced. Since September, Germany and Brunei have already enjoyed active VTL agreements with Singapore, with over 5,200 visitors from these countries having been approved thus far. South Korean citizens will be issued the same privilege starting November 15.
Its staged reopening approach is building toward what Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has described as the country's "new normal". About 83 percent of the population in Singapore is fully vaccinated, one of the world's highest rates.
Since applications opened under the expanded VTL program last Wednesday, roughly 2,400 people have been approved to enter from Tuesday onward. The Vaccinated Travel Lanes are proving most popular among U.K. visitors, 1,000 of whom were issued approved travel passes on the day applications opened.
Of those already approved to enter, only 30 percent are short-term, tourist-type visitors. The rest are traveling on longer-term student or work visas, arriving between October 19 and November 17, according to Thai PBS World.
Lavinia Rajaram, APAC Head of Communications at Expedia, said that interest in outbound travel has spiked since the VTL scheme's expansion was announced last week, with the top most-searched destinations being South Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. "We're also seeing longer length of stays being considered for these outbound trends. Group sizes have increased, which could be an indication that families are starting to travel together," she explained.
Singapore Airlines also reported that it's experiencing strong demand for its flights between Vaccinated Travel Lanes nations. The carrier said it's seeing a good mix among customers of people traveling for the holidays, to reunite with family, for business or for tourism purposes.
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