Singapore has launched a travel “bubble” business hotel that allows executives to hold face-to-face meetings without a risk of exposure to COVID-19, one of the world’s first such facilities.
The Connect@Changi hotel has meeting rooms outfitted with airtight glass panels to reduce the risk of transmission, and even has a special compartment with ultraviolet light to sanitize documents so they can be shared between participants.
Some of its first guests have traveled from France, Germany, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.
Photo: Reuters
“Given that we have operations in Singapore, I need to be able to travel to conduct face-to-face meetings with the team based in Singapore, as well as process some paperwork,” said Olivier Leroux, who was among the first guests when he checked in on Monday after his flight from France.
The hotel differs from quarantine hotels in the city-state, where guests are isolated for two weeks and must pass COVID-19 tests before being cleared to leave.
Visitors to the bubble hotel are not permitted to enter Singapore and must leave via the airport.
Singapore is expected to host the World Economic Forum in August and the new bubble hotel has been put forward as a way to facilitate business meetings during the event.
The room rate starts at S$384 (US$285) per night, which includes meals, two-way airport transfer and COVID-19 tests required during the course of the stay.
Due to strictly enforced curbs and quarantine measures, Singapore has kept a tight lid on its COVID-19 infections, despite clusters emerging last year in dormitories housing migrant workers.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
RSS