On Friday (14 May), the Government announced the tightest restrictions on gatherings yet since the ‘Circuit Breaker’ – bringing our group size down to 2 people.
Now, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has said that this applies to staycations also.
Thus, unless you’re all part of the same household, you won’t be able to have an overnight chiong session with a group of friends for the time being.
Those who’ve booked staycations for more than 2 within the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) period may request a booking change or refund.
In a Facebook post on Friday (14 May) night, the STB said it would tighten measures for tourism businesses from 16 May to 13 Jun.
That includes hotels, which in line with the prevailing restrictions in the rest of Singapore, will enforce a 2-guests-per-room rule.
In case you’re thinking of cheating by getting adjoining rooms with 2 people each, the rules also cover a pair of adjoining guest rooms with connecting doors that you can open.
This won’t apply if all the guests are from the same household – so you can still book a staycay with your family members or roommates who live under the same roof.
However, apart from that, we’ll have to content ourselves with couple staycations for now.
Besides the 2-person rule, guests won’t be allowed to dine in at the hotel’s food and beverage (F&B) establishments either.
Which for foodies, kinda takes some of the fun out of a staycation.
Hotels will also be subject to more strict safe management measures. For example they must limit the number of people in common areas like the lobby to no more than 1 per 16 square metres.
Check out the comprehensive list of rules here.
Needless to say, these rules will be a bummer for those who’ve booked group staycations for the period.
Thus, they may request to change their booking dates or seek a refund, subject to terms and conditions.
If you’ve used your SingapoRediscovers vouchers to redeem the staycation and realise there won’t be much to discover, they can also be refunded.
The authorised booking partners or merchants will contact users to offer assistance.
Apart from hotels, tour groups will have to cut down their sizes.
Only 20 people will be allowed in each tour, and the participants cannot exceed groups of 2.
The operating capacity of attractions and cruises will be reduced to 25%.
All shows and MICE events, whether indoor or outdoor, can only have up to 50 people without pre-event testing.
If there’s pre-event testing, they can have up to 100 attendees.
Do check out STB’s website for more details on the new rules.
While the limit on staycation guests might be dispiriting to your friend group, at least you may still be able to change it into a romantic night with bae.
For those without a significant other, do seek out a rebooking or refund soon to beat the expected rush.
Some may have their plans drastically changed, but at least our SingapoRediscovers vouchers have been extended till 31 Dec, so we have plenty of time to wait till the rules are relaxed again.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at hello@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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