If you believe everything you read, Hong Kong and Singapore have long enjoyed a healthy rivalry, battling it out for financial supremacy in Asia. In February, The Financial Times reported that Covid-19 had introduced a new dimension to the struggle, “their ability to deal with epidemics”. To date, Hong Kong has the edge in terms of total cases, with about 5,200 to the Lion City’s almost 60,000, but Singapore is doing better when it comes to fatalities, recording just 28, compared with 105 in the SAR. But now, the pandemic promises to bring the two competitors closer, thanks to an “in-principle agreement to establish a bilateral air travel bubble (ATB)”, according to a release issued by both governments on October 15. Under the arrangement, travellers “will be subject to mutually recognised Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction [PCR] tests and would need to have negative results” before arriving at either destination on “dedicated flights” with no transit passengers or “non-ATB travellers” on board. With these safeguards in place, no quarantine or self-isolation will be required at either end. Although no date has been given for the launch of the ATB, Hong Kong’s secretary for commerce and economic development, Edward Yau Tang-wah, said he had “every confidence that the ATB arrangement can come to fruition very soon”. Travel-starved Hongkongers quickly dropped any sense of superiority over the Southeast Asian city state, with Expedia recording a 400 per cent increase in searches for flights to Singapore. Singaporeans are almost as excited about the prospect of a Hong Kong getaway – Expedia saw an increase of almost 380 per cent in searches for flights from Singapore to Hong Kong in the first 24 hours after the announcement – and prices for round-trip tickets have risen in both cities. Travel bubble with Singapore: how Hong Kong got it wrong Speaking to the South China Morning Post , Expedia Group’s senior director of Asia government and corporate affairs, Ang Choo Pin, said, “Singapore has consistently remained one of the top 10 destinations among Hong Kong travellers over the years”. In 2018, 470,000 Hongkongers visited the Lion City. That same year, almost 611,000 Singaporeans graced the Fragrant Harbour with their presence, although the number was lower in 2019, when street protests deterred tourists from coming to Hong Kong. However, an anecdotal straw poll suggests some Hongkongers, while overjoyed at the possibility of overseas travel, are disappointed with the destination on offer. One Twitter user noted that “Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam or even Macau” would be preferable. Several agreed. But beggars can’t be choosers, and many seem to think that anywhere is better than nowhere. Others point out that the price of the PCR tests, when added to the cost of the airfare and accommodation, make a holiday prohibitively expensive. Although free at Hong Kong’s public hospitals for those eligible (the consultation costs HK$180), a PCR test can be as much as HK$2,500 at a private hospital or clinic. And then there’ll be the test travellers will presumably need to take before returning home. However, the announcement sent ripples of hope through Asia’s tourism industry and was welcomed by flag carriers Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, Ronald Lam Siu-por, called it a “milestone development for Hong Kong and an important first step in facilitating the resumption of regular air travel”. But what about the much reported rivalry? Dismissed on social media as the invention of “technocrats and SCMP opinion writers”, it has taken on yet another dimension, point out internet commentators. After the national security law was passed in June, one Singaporean journalist wrote that Hong Kong friends used to “poke fun of our soft authoritarianism [...] how things have changed”. Indeed, ours is now a different city to the one that last received international visitors, in March. Whether that will affect Hong Kong’s appeal to those from further afield, in or out of a bubble, remains to be seen. Wuhan was China’s most visited city during Golden Week As coronavirus cases rise across Europe and the United States, China appears to have eased comfortably into its “new normal”, reporting economic growth and mass travel about the vast country. During the Golden Week holiday, from October 1 to 8, more than 637 million people engaged in domestic tourism, spending about 466 billion yuan (HK$538 billion) in the process, according to official statistics. And the most popular destination? Why, it was Wuhan, the city that became known around the world as the original epicentre of the coronavirus. The Wall Street Journal reported 18.8 million visitors made their way to the River City over the holiday period. Travel industry publication Skift suggested that “national pride” and “support for the beleaguered city” were among the motivations for visitors. Garuda Indonesia planes mask up Face masks are mandatory in Indonesia, and people caught out and about without one could be subject to punishments ranging from fines to being forced to dig graves for Covid-19 victims. To support the government’s “let’s wear masks” campaign, Garuda Indonesia has unveiled a new livery: five of its aircraft are now wearing masks on their noses, The Jakarta Post reports. “As a national flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia has always committed to supporting the government’s efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said Garuda’s president, Irfan Setiaputra, in a statement. “One way we do that is by encouraging people to wear masks.”
