Hotels, tourist guides step up to help fight coronavirus

Businesses in the tourism sector have stepped up to help in the fight against Covid-19 despite the significant challenges they face, the Singapore Tourism Board's (STB) chief executive Keith Tan said yesterday.

A number of hotels, for example, are now serving as facilities to house returning Singapore residents serving their 14-day stay-home notices, he noted in a video posted on Facebook.

Some have gone the extra mile by providing notes of encouragement or innovative ways to help guests stay healthy, said Mr Tan.

"A few weeks ago, many of our hotels also responded very quickly when we needed to house large numbers of Malaysian workers. Since then, we have also had to find more rooms to accommodate other groups of foreign workers, who are needed to keep the Singapore economy running," he said.

Many others are supporting the Ministry of Health in its effort to create more facilities for different types of patients, he said. They have done this by providing rooms or offering bed linen, meals and even staff to manage the facilities.

On an individual level, more than 50 tourist guides are working alongside STB staff as safe distancing ambassadors, said Mr Tan.

Applauding the sector's resilience, he said: "I know many of you have had to make tough adjustments, and I am grateful for the sacrifices that you and your staff have made."

Mr Tan also said it is important to keep in touch with the market even if there is a dearth of visitors in Singapore now.

Finding creative ways to engage audiences is especially important now, when "billions of people are stuck at home, hungry for good and interesting content", he said.

"I want you to think hard about how you can take advantage of these efforts and initiatives to help your businesses get ready for the time when international tourism picks up again."