Hong Kong pushing for travel bubble with Australia

We’ve got New Zealand ticked off, and now another major destination is flagging a huge interest in welcoming Australians back.

Hong Kong has flagged interest in quarantine-free travel with Australia. Picture: iStock

Hong Kong has reportedly flagged interest in striking up a quarantine-free travel deal with Australia, as its long-awaited bubble with Singapore gets underway.

The two financial hubs have confirmed their travel bubble will finally begin on May 26, after earlier plans were put on ice due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong late last year.

Singapore has already been rumoured to be among the next destinations to form a travel bubble with Australia, and now Hong Kong also appears to be interested.

Hong Kong Commerce Secretary Edward Yau said the Hong Kong-Singapore bubble would form the basis for quarantine-free travel with Australia and New Zealand, and suggested discussions with those governments would be taking place, Executive Traveller reported.

Hong Kong has flagged interest in quarantine-free travel with Australia. Picture: iStock

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Asia appears to be the priority for Australia after the two-way travel bubble with New Zealand kicked off this month.

And Singapore is likely to be next cab off the rank, with immigration and health authorities looking to lift restrictions to the city-state in months.

Singapore is theoretically open to Australian travellers, who simply need to isolate for the short time it takes to return a negative COVID-19 test on arrival. However, Australia’s international borders remain closed to everywhere except New Zealand.

Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Keith Tan told Nine Newspapers the city hoped Australia would reciprocate soon.

“We had our own unilateral opening in the hope that it would spur some reciprocation, which obviously hasn’t happened,” he said.

“It all depends on the Australian government because we’ve opened up to Australia,” he added.

“We’ve likened it to a dance. In order to dance, you need two people to dance together.”

Australians could be heading to Singapore next. Picture: iStock

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Earlier this month, Singapore Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung was asked in parliament about plans for travel bubbles and mentioned Australia, New Zealand and Brunei as leading candidates.

“We are exploring with several countries and regions, including Australia, on the mutual recognition of vaccination certificates. The certificates can be physical or digital, and we will need them to be secure, tamper-proof and verifiable,” he said.

“However, vaccinations are only one aspect of pandemic control. Social distancing, contact tracing, quarantine and testing are also very important aspects, which countries and regions have used to control the spread of COVID-19 virus even as vaccines become available.”

Australia is looking to establish quarantine-free travel with other Asian and Pacific countries with low rates of transmission from around August.

This could include nations such as Fiji, Vietnam and Thailand, and eventually Japan and South Korea. Mainland China is also an option, despite diplomatic tensions with Australia.

Under the first stage of Singapore and Hong Kong’s travel bubble arrangement, which begins on May 26, up to 200 travellers on one flight per day will be fly into each city.

Travellers on either end must test negative for COVID-19 before and after their flight. Hong Kong residents will be allowed to enter Singapore at least 14 days after they have received two doses of the vaccine — however, travel to both cities can be for any reason and there will be no quarantine on either end.

– With Ben Graham