STB kickstarts SingapoReimagine Global Conversations forum series on the future of travel ttgasia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ttgasia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Suhaimi Abdullah / Contributor / Getty Images
Singapore s borders have been closed since March 2020, and it has virtually no domestic travel.
We spoke to three local tour operators to see how they survived the pandemic.
One company said they pivoted to local experiences, but they only pull in 50% of their pre-pandemic revenue.
When Singapore closed its borders in March 2020, the number of visitors to the island plunged 99% from what it was the previous year. Then came the cancelation requests. Around 70% of our bookings were cancelled, and 30% were postponed, said Krystal Tan, director of Blue Sky Escapes, a local travel company known for crafting off-the-beaten-path experiences in destinations like Bhutan and Peru.
How 3 Singapore travel companies stayed afloat when their entire business model disappeared overnight msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Alfred Romann and Gina Lee | China Daily | Updated: 2021-04-03 09:05 Share CLOSE Children ride on swings in a tourist area in Sihong county, Jiangsu province on March 28, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
Pent-up demand impossible to ignore as time estimates vary for travel recovery
As international travel came to a standstill in 2020, companies in the travel and tourism industries hit a wall. Business dried up to almost nothing.
Now, with vaccination campaigns beginning to pick up speed, plans around travel bubbles falling in place and discussions around vaccination certificates proliferating, there is hope for a big rebound that will supercharge the moribund industry.