Singapore
Travel News
Singapore welcomes back first
Chinese tourist group as the SARS impact wears off
Issued: 31 July 2003
Singapore warmly welcomed the
74-Chinese tour group, the single biggest since the earlier ban by
Beijing due to the SARS crisis in the region.
These 74 Chinese
tourists from Guangzhou set foot on land of the city state amidst
the welcoming celebrations of lion dance, orchid garlands, and
goodie bag.
The celebration is
part of the pilot program aiming to attract more tourists to the
city state. China is Singapore's third-largest tourist market
after Indonesia and Japan. However, at the height of the SARS
outbreak in the city state, China imposed a ban on travel to
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in mid-April to cubs the spread
of the virus. It lifted the ban for Beijing residents on May 27
and for all Chinese in 9 July.
Despite the lifted
ban, a number of arrivals to Singapore did not reach a
satisfactory level, prompting the Singapore Tourism Board to
launch the campaign to enforce tourism boosting. A six-month pilot
program which permits individual tourists from China an exemption
of security deposit was then introduced. The program also saves
tourists from annoyance and time wasting going to the Republic's
Embassy or consulates to apply for a visa.
As a result, visitors
from China rose 51 percent this month to 17,000, and China could
well outpace Japan as the second largest in terms of tourist
arrivals. The recent increasing arrivals of visitor are expected
to continue through the rest of the year.
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