The quarantine policy also applies to travellers from Australia - excluding Victoria state - mainland China, Malaysia and Taiwan, Singapore officials told reporters on Friday.

A man, wearing a protective facemask, walks past the Rain Vortex display at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore on February 27, 2020.

They said the city-state will allow travellers from Brunei and New Zealand to visit from September. The visitors will have to be tested for the novel coronavirus, but will be exempted from the 14-day quarantine.

Transport minister Ong Ye Kung said Brunei and New Zealand were chosen as they are small countries and have controlled the virus well.

"All in all, I think this is a small cautious step to start to reopen aviation and resuscitate Changi Airport," he said, as cited by AFP.

"Remember, as a small open economy, to survive we've got to keep our borders open. To earn a living, (we) gotta have connections with the world and to thrive and to prosper, we must be an aviation hub."

Changi Airport used to serve 1,000 aircraft a day but this number had fallen to 150, Ong said.

Singapore closed its borders in March to tourists and short-term visitors. It has reported 56,266 Covid-19 infections and 27 deaths.

Vietnam, whose infection tally has reached 1,014, including 26 deaths, took similar actions in late March to control the pandemic spread. The country had considered plans to open borders to people from several Asian countries with low risks, until community transmissions resurfaced in late July.

Van singing, melodies in Suoi Mo tourism site

(BGO)- “We visited Suoi Mo some days ago and we had opportunity to enjoy van (Vietnamese ritual) singing in Ha temple. So fantastic! It would be great if van singing is performed regularly to serve tourists”, Tran Van Long, a tourist from Hanoi who used to work in tourism sector said to me when he travelled  to Suoi Mo eco-tourism site in Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province for the first time.

Luc Ngan boasts huge potential for spiritual and ecotourism

(BGO) – Luc Ngan district (Bac Giang province) has well known for numerous visitors near and far as the “Kingdom of lychee”. Nowadays, this land is covered by various fruits all the year round, not only lychee, but also pomelo, orange, tangerine, persimmon... that help the local farmers earn high income and draw visitors. This land has rich potential for spiritual and ecologial tourism.

Road to Khuon Than tourism site revamped and upgraded

(BGO) – A project has been commenced to revamp and upgrade the provincial road No.289, section of Chu – Khuon Than (Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province).

Son Dong develops community tourism attaching to ethnic culture preservation

(BGO) – Son Dong district (Bac Giang province) houses several ethnic minority groups. Promoting the advantages, the local authority is focusing on various solutions to expand the community tourism model attaching to ethnic culture preservation.

Tourism sector takes urgent measures to ensure visitors’ safety amid Covid-19

Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has asked tourism departments across the country to take prompt measures to ensure tourists’ safety amid the complicated developments of Covid-19.

Source: VnExpress