Jamie Freed, Chen Lin

SYDNEY/SINGAPORE – Some potential travelers are contemplating cancelling their plans to travel due to the Omicron coronavirus. Travel agents stated on Monday that this virus is threatening a already fragile recovery in the global tourism sector.

Omicron’s discovery in Southern Africa is only one of many international travelers. However, Israel and Japan announced a closure to their borders to foreigners. Britain and Australia tightened the rules to allow all visitors to comply with the announcement.

According to a spokesperson of Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd, some Australian tourists booked through Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd cancelled or delayed flights due to the new requirement that arrivals be separated at home or in hotels for 72 hours while waiting for COVID-19 results.

He said that he was not feeling pressured to make changes in the order of trips. “It’s still early and people are prepared to wait and watch what unfolds.”

Tourists from Australia are not permitted to cross the frontier into Australia, except New Zealand and Singapore.

Jeremiah Wong (senior marketing communications manager, Chan Brothers Travel) said concerned customers called Chan Brothers Travel to inquire about possible Australia travel options due to the isolation requirements.

He said, “At the moment, it is clear that people want to continue with their travel plans because they’ve been planning for them for quite some time.” We haven’t received any concerns about Europe-related tours.

Singapore Airlines (OTC) Ltd stated that it converted some of its passengers to Johannesburg and Cape Town into cargo flights after Singapore placed restrictions on travel to south Africa.

Singapore only opened its doors to foreign travellers in the last few months. Singapore on Sunday delayed plans to open the borders to travelers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.

Skyline Travel in Singapore, which offers tour packages to Europe, South Korea and Asia, said it is concerned about the situation but hasn’t seen any cancellations.

He said that travel insurance has been made compulsory by his company because of the changing circumstances.