Singapore rolled out the welcome mat for international business travelers with the launch of Connect@Changi, a short-stay facility allowing foreign visitors to meet residents face-to-face without quarantine first.
A consortium of companiesled by state-owned investment group Temasek sponsored the project which will help preserve Singapore's reputation as "a global business hub," Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said Thursday.
One-hundred-and-fifty bedrooms and 40 meeting rooms with a maximum capacity of 22 were unveiled in the launch, with plans to host roughly 1,300 people traveling for business once the site is fully operational.
"We came up with the idea to repurpose Halls 7 to 10 [of the nearby exposition center] into a facility like this which will allow business meetings to happen," Temasek's joint head of strategic development Alan Thompson said. "Gradually, we will be able to get business as close to normal as we can."
Other corporates involved in Connect@Changi include hotel operator The Ascott Limited and Sheares Healthcare Group.
The site houses special meeting rooms equipped with air-tight glass panels and separate ventilation systems for foreign visitors and their local colleagues. For document sharing, special boxes to sanitize papers have been installed.
Travelers can choose to remain from 24 hours to 14 days at the facility and must take COVID tests at regular intervals during their stay. No housekeeping services will be available, and meals will be left for visitors outside their rooms to minimize contact.
"We are monitoring them throughout their stay [...] and if they are in fact infected, they will be managed like any other patient who has COVID-19 and taken to the healthcare facility," said Sheares executive TK Udairam.
Rooms start at $298 for 24 hours and the facility says it has already begun to receive bookings.
