When Singaporean travel blogger Aaron Wong booked a flight to Hong Kong this month, he was prepared to be disappointed because he did not have much faith in the “tourist balloon”.
According to the Wall Street Journal , the flight was part of a much-anticipated “travel bubble” between the two cities. According to the old plan, the Singapore and Hong Kong governments will open their doors to tourists in the two cities on May 26.
While the rest of the world struggled to find a way to relax travel restrictions, the two Asian financial centers have been trying for months to open up to tourism. In November 2020, the number of Covid-19 infections in Hong Kong skyrocketed, forcing Singapore and Hong Kong to postpone the “travel bubble”. And now, a new outbreak in Singapore has extinguished hopes of a “travel bubble” once again. “Next time, they should announce the enforcement 24 hours in advance so that Covid-19 does not have time to react,” Wong, 33, joked. 
The “travel bubble” connecting Singapore and Hong Kong was postponed twice because of the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: Getty Images. Travel thirst The two city governments carefully drafted detailed criteria and announced new safety regulations to open the border. Many people who want to travel rush to book tickets to secure seats on two scheduled return flights each day. They plan to go to specific places, meet friends. Now again they are disappointed. “Singapore is only a 3.5 hour flight from Hong Kong, but now it feels like the other side of the world.” WSJ quoted Emma Herblot – 42-year-old French expert working for an online payment company in Singapore – lamented. Singapore and Hong Kong have been relatively successful in containing the Covid-19 epidemic and are still applying strict isolation regulations. People returning from anywhere still have to be isolated in concentrated for 2-3 weeks. So many Singaporeans and Hong Kongers have not traveled for more than a year now. 
Travel blogger Aaron Wong at Changi Airport in February 2020. This is his last trip before the Covid-19 epidemic. Photo: WSJ. Unlike the US or Europe, people stuck in Singapore and Hong Kong don’t have much choice when it comes to commuting. The area of Singapore is only 728 square kilometers, Hong Kong is only slightly larger. Andrew Scott – a 41-year-old editor who works at a Hong Kong media company – said he planned to visit friends in Singapore. “It was fine until around January, I really wanted to go somewhere,” he lamented. I was so excited about the travel bubble plan and then it was all a disappointment.” Last year, Asian tourism experts and officials asserted that the “tourist bubble” was the key to opening the border. They say that two-dimensional “bubbles” will appear first, followed by regional “bubbles”. Some experts envision a giant Asian “travel bubble” consisting of countries that have succeeded in containing the Covid-19 epidemic. The Hong Kong government has used a “travel bubble” to encourage people to get vaccinated in recent weeks. “Great but dull Singapore” Since the beginning of the pandemic, Singapore has recorded more than 61,600 cases of Covid-19 per 5.8 million people and 31 deaths. Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded 11,800 cases per 7.5 million people and 210 deaths. As the number of infections in Singapore increased, Chitra Karamchandani (30 years old, in Hong Kong) was extremely worried. She has not seen her fiancé for the past 1.5 years because of restrictions on entry to non-citizens. According to the plan, he was supposed to fly to Hong Kong at the end of this month and they will hold a wedding in June. Karamchandani had detailed plans to welcome her fiance, including walking around the city and learning to cook Japanese noodles. The “bubble” burst made her extremely disappointed. “When will the border reopen? We just want to see each other again,” she lamented. Dennison Wee – 26 years old, working in finance in Singapore – hopes his trip to Hong Kong will become an inspiration for him to continue blogging. He has written about journeys through nearly 100 cities around the world. 
Without a “tourist bubble”, Singaporeans and Hong Kongers are trapped in the city’s small size. Photo: Getty Images. But since March 2020, he has only written a few reviews about hotels within a radius of about 20 km around his apartment. Mr Wee, 26, said: “Singapore is great but it’s dull. We must have only one hill to walk on, a few islands.” To keep himself busy, travel blogger Wong participates in projects to stimulate local tourism. He continued to wait for another 2 weeks until the authorities had a new notice. “All we can do is hope,” Wong said.
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