Following the slew of announcements of travel restrictions easing in Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, search demand on Expedia for the key travel destinations has seen a significant jump in demand.  

Relaxed quarantine measures in Taiwan and Hong Kong well received by Singapore travellers:  

Following the respective announcement by Taiwan and Hong Kong to ease the quarantine requirements for inbound travellers, search demand for travel to both destinations has more than tripled. 

Flight searches to Taiwan on Expedia saw a 280% increase following the announcement (23 to 25 September) vs the last 7 days (16 to 22 September) average. Similarly, flight searches to Hong Kong on Expedia saw a 250% increase following the announcement (23 to 25 September) vs the last 7 days (16 to 22 September) average. 

Despite the requirement for self-monitoring upon arrival (over 7 days), Singaporean travellers are still looking for a year-end holiday at Taiwan, with searches for travel in next 2-3 months ahead.

Japan returning as one of Singapore travellers’ top travel destination 

Singapore outbound demand for Japan continues to climb, with flight searches on Expedia more than tripled (+205%) following the announcement versus the last 7 days average*. The top trending destinations in Japan include Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Kyoto and Miyakojima respectively. 

Prior to Covid-19 travel restrictions, Tokyo was amongst the top 5 travel destinations for year-end travel, according to Expedia flight demand from 1 January 2019 to 30 September 2019. In fact, Japan continued to trend in our search data month-on-month from 2021 to 2022, even when pandemic restrictions were in place. Expedia flight search data also unveiled that Tokyo was ranked as the 9th trending search destination for trips in November to December, ahead of the announcement earlier last week. 

The recent rebound in travel interest for the 3 destinations has expectedly led to their return in the top 10 destinations among Singapore travellers, as vacation-deprived Singaporeans are excited to return to this destination that was closed off the past 2 years. 

According to Expedia.com.sg flight search data between 23 to 25 September: 

1. Bangkok, Thailand 
2. Tokyo, Japan 
3. Taipei, Taiwan 
4. Osaka, Japan 
5. Bali, Indonesia 
6. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 
7. Phuket, Thailand 
8. Seoul, South Korea 
9. Penang, Malaysia 
10. Hong Kong 

* According to Expedia flight search data for 23 to 25 September vs the last 7 days (16 to 22 September) average.