Tourism, Hotels, Business Travel, Business Events
Tourism, Hotels, Business Travel, Business Events
Hotels
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Hotels may apply to STB to provide accommodation to guests for the purposes of leisure (e.g. staycations). Any hotel that wishes to apply must comply with the safe management measures required for hotels. Please refer to the advisory for hotels for the full list of requirements.
Hotels must submit their application to STB for assessment. Hotels may provide accommodation to guests for the purposes of leisure and related marketing efforts only after receiving approval from MTI. The list of approved hotels can be found at https://www.stb.gov.sg/content/stb/en/home-pages/permitted-tourism-businesses.html
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Yes, Hotels may allow their venues to be used to conduct events, subject to national and sector-specific Safe Management Measures.
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Marriage Solemnisations are to be capped at a group size of ≤ 50 persons without pre-event testing (PET) implemented, and ≤250 persons with PET implemented. Vendors and premises staff should be kept to the minimum required. No F&B reception is allowed during solemnisations. Wedding receptions are not permitted. For information on PET, please refer to the PET microsite. From mid-July 2021: Wedding receptions are to be capped at a group size ≤100 attendees (including wedding couple but excluding vendors) with PET required for all attendees. For wedding receptions of ≤50 attendees, PET is required only for all members of the wedding party (of ≤20 attendees including the wedding couple). Vendors and premises staff should be kept to the minimum required. For information on PET, please refer to the PET microsite.
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Classes and training by permitted enterprises conducting an education business must be limited to no more than 50 individuals including the trainer(s). Safe management measures must be implemented, including ensuring at least 1 metre safe distance between all individuals, or if individuals must be less than 1 metre apart, they should be in groups of no more than 5 (including guests and visitors), with at least 1 metre distance between groups. A record of the groups of 5 must be kept for not less than 28 days after the day the record is made. Classes where participants are unmasked are to be suspended. Classes where participants are unmasked and require expulsion of air (e.g. wind and brass instruments, and singing) may resume and must adhere to prevailing guidelines found on NAC’s website.
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Work-related events are permitted to be held outside of workplaces/own premises, with ≤50 persons at any time or the maximum number of individuals which the room or venue may accommodate if there is a distance of at least 1 metre between any 2 individuals, whichever is lower; and at least 1 metre spacing between individuals at all times. Work-related events include consumer-facing events (such as product launches / branding events) and work meetings (among colleagues or with external parties, training, board meetings, HR talks, townhalls, seminars, corporate retreats, conferences on business strategies, Annual/Extraordinary General Meetings, tender briefings to vendors and award ceremonies). F&B are not allowed at work-related events.
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MICE events held in hotels can have ≤250 participants with PET implemented (please see https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/pet), or ≤50 participants if PET is not implemented and must comply with the prevailing Sector Specific Requirements for Business Events.
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Live performances are permitted with ≤250 audience members with PET implemented, and up to 50 persons without PET implemented, and must comply with the prevailing Sector Specific Requirements for live performances. Please refer to latest prevailing guidelines at https://www.gobusiness.gov.sg/safemanagement/sector/ (See Section on “Arts and Culture”).
*Individuals exempted from the PET requirement for MICE events include individuals who enter or remain at the event venue solely:
- To deliver goods or provide services connected with the event, business, or activity, undertaking work related to the event and carried on within the venue;
- To work as a permitted enterprise or permitted enterprise worker, for or with the occupier of the event venue;
- To render assistance in an emergency at the venue; and
- To execute an order of a court or a direction given by or on behalf of a public officer or a public body in exercise of a power under any written law.
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A separate application for General Exemption is not required. Hotels are required to comply with the prevailing Safe Management Measures for other businesses on their premises. For example, no sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages in F&B establishments from 2230hrs daily.
Business Travel Pass
I. About Business Travel Pass
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One of Singapore’s key value propositions is our position as an air and business hub. This includes the ease with which executives based in Singapore can travel around the region for work, to oversee regional operations.
Unfortunately, the ease of travel has been severely affected by restrictions to safeguard against COVID-19. SME owners cannot visit their customers and factories in the region, and MNCs with global/regional HQ functions here are unable to operate fully. We need to enable these businesspersons to travel more easily, and safely, or risk losing these business functions to other countries.
Hence, the Business Travel Pass is meant for senior executives in Singapore with regional or international roles who need to travel regularly for business. We are doing this in a gradual and calibrated manner to manage our public health situation carefully.
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All travellers on this scheme are required to be fully vaccinated with a recognised vaccine under the HSA-PSAR and WHO-EUL lists.
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Travellers with the Business Travel Pass will be required to abide by a strict controlled itinerary when they travel overseas for work.
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Before returning to Singapore, they are required to make a health declaration to ensure that they do not have any symptoms and have not encountered anyone infected with COVID-19.
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All travellers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test/professionally administered ART (for Cat l to IV countries only) taken within 2 days before departure, before they can travel to Singapore.
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Upon return, travellers will undergo an on-arrival COVID-19 Supervised Self-Swab (SSS) ART within 24 hours of arrival (for Cat I to IV countries) in lieu of the Stay-Home Notice (SHN).
These testing requirements serve to minimise the risk of potential incubating cases leaking into the community.
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The Business Travel Pass is not country specific and senior executives will be able to travel to a range of countries, subject to the countries’ border requirements.
Although the Business Travel Pass is not a ‘free-pass’ for travellers to enter various countries, it facilitates the Business Travel Pass holders’ return to Singapore, to carry on with their business operations, subject to prevailing border restrictions in Singapore for pass holders.
Travellers must abide by both the destination’s public health rules, as well as the stringent health protocols in Singapore upon their return.
If they are found not to have abided by any of the protocols, their passes may be revoked.
II. Application/Eligibility
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The Business Travel Pass is issued to senior executives in Singapore with international or regional responsibilities who travel regularly for official and business purposes.
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Approval is given only if we are assured that the individual will comply with the stringent public health requirements and safeguards.
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We will maintain the ability to revoke the Business Travel Pass if we find that the traveller failed to abide by the stringent health protocols.
Eligible candidates include senior executives of all nationalities in Singapore. Foreign nationals are required to hold an Employment Pass (EP), EntrePass, Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) or Immigration Exemption Order (IEO).
- Only travellers sponsored by government agencies may submit applications for a Business Travel Pass through their respective sponsoring government agencies or sector leads.
Travellers on this scheme must be fully vaccinated with a recognised vaccine under the HSA-PSAR and WHO-EUL lists.
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Travellers are required to keep close contact with their sponsoring government agencies which allows us to follow up closely with these travellers to determine the public health outcome of the scheme.
Through the government agencies, we will also be able to contact these travellers quickly in the event that we need to adjust parameters of the Business Travel Pass in response to a sudden change in the global epidemiological situation. The travellers will have to immediately adapt to and abide by any change in public health requirements.
This is critical because public health remains our number one priority as we explore new ways to resume business travel to aid in our economic recovery.
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There is a tight limit on the number of Business Travel Passes available. Our focus is on monitoring the implementation of the pilot to ensure that public health risk can be managed. This will enable us to assess whether to expand the initiative.
Regional travel for businesses based in Singapore is important. We want to enable this as much as possible in a safe and sustainable manner, while protecting the health of these travellers and the local community.
In the meantime, companies may also wish to consider utilising other available travel lanes for entry into Singapore from applicable countries for business purposes.
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We do not have a fixed timeline for this scheme and are taking a step-by-step approach in our evaluation of the scheme. Our number one priority for now is public health and we want to carefully monitor the progress of this pilot before making any decisions.
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Because public health remains our priority, we will limit the number of Business Travel Passes and carefully monitor the public health outcomes in this phase.
III. Health Protocols
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Travellers will be required to submit a controlled itinerary of their meetings and activities while abroad, including the contacts they meet and venues they go to, and must adhere strictly to this controlled itinerary. Travellers who leave Singapore without an approved controlled itinerary, will be subject to the prevailing border measures for non-BTP holders upon their return to Singapore which may include an SHN at SHN Dedicated Facilities (SDF).
Before returning to Singapore, they are required to make a health declaration to ensure that they do not have any symptoms and have not encountered anyone infected with COVID-19.
All travellers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test/professionally administered ART (for Cat l to IV countries) taken within 2 days before departure, before they can travel to Singapore.
Upon arriving in Singapore, they will take an on-arrival Supervised Self-Swab (SSS) ART within 24 hours of arrival (for Cat I to IV countries).
On top of that, travellers are required to use TraceTogether, comply with safe management measures at their workplace and for events and abide by all other prevailing measures applicable to local residents.
If travellers are found to have breached any of the health protocols stated above, their Business Travel Pass may be revoked and they may face further penalties.
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Travellers will be required to comply with stringent public health requirements and additional safeguards. For instance, they are required to submit a controlled itinerary before leaving Singapore and adhere strictly to this itinerary abroad. All travellers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR test/professionally administered ART (for Cat l to IV countries) taken within 2 days before departure, before they can travel to Singapore.
Upon their arrival in Singapore, travellers are required to undergo an on-arrival Supervised Self-Swab (SSS) ART within 24 hours of arrival (for Cat I to IV countries) in lieu of their SHN requirements. These serve as a precautionary measure to capture any possible incubating cases.
In order to limit the potential public health risks, we are starting only with a small number of Business Travel Passes.
We will continue to carefully monitor the global situation and the public health outcomes of this scheme in order to strike a calibrated balance between the safety of the local community and resuming business travel in support of our overall economic recovery.