According to the global network, on December 7, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong revealed at a meeting of the China-Singapore Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) that on the basis of the increasing number of flights between the two countries, the two countries will facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries through 30-day visa exemption.
Ctrip data shows that as of 13 o'clock on the same day, after the news was announced, the search volume in Singapore increased by 80% month-on-month compared with the hour before the announcement, the search volume for air tickets increased by 90%, and the search volume for hotels increased by 50%.
Singapore is a popular destination for Chinese outbound tourism and an important source of inbound tourism. According to Ctrip data, from January to September 2023, Singapore reached 1 million Chinese tourists, recovering to 35% of the level of the same period in 2019, and also returning to the second place in the list of inbound tourists in Singapore. On July 26, 2023, China announced the resumption of its unilateral visa-free entry policy for Singapore, allowing Singapore citizens who hold ordinary passports to stay in China without a visa for 15 days.
In addition to Singapore, since 2023, Georgia, Thailand, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and other countries have also announced visa-free access for Chinese tourists.
Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, analyzed that the arrival of the China-Singapore mutual visa exemption policy will be another important positive for the inbound and outbound travel market. Singapore has always been an important business and tourist destination for Chinese citizens, and the mutual visa waiver policy will further stimulate the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists to travel to Singapore. After Singapore's visa-free policy for Chinese citizens is officially implemented, it will connect with Malaysia and Thailand to form a new Malaysia-Thailand visa-free ** line, which is also a traditional popular route for Chinese residents to travel abroad, and it is expected that Chinese citizens will travel to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in 2024. In 2023, Singapore will rank among the top five most popular outbound destinations for Chinese tourists.
Spring and Autumn Travel revealed that at present, they are still waiting for an official notice from the Singapore consulate. Even if there is no visa exemption for each other, people from both countries already visit each other frequently, and if they are officially exempted, it will further stimulate demand.
China is about to usher in the New Year's Day, winter vacation and Spring Festival, if the 30-day visa exemption between Singapore and China is implemented during this period, coupled with the pleasant climate in Singapore during this period, it will greatly promote Chinese citizens to go for leisure and vacation during the New Year's Day, Spring Festival and winter vacation, and it will also be convenient for parents to bring their children to Singapore to experience the campus environment and living environment during the winter vacation.
Given that international flights in China have not yet fully resumed, the strong market demand between China and Singapore will also help airlines prioritize the layout of routes between China and Singapore.
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