Singapore Tourism Board and leading trade associations have launched a raft of support measures for the tourism industry to mitigate the economic impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier in February, a stabilisation and support package gained approval in the national budget 2020 statement that will fund practical measures to help tourism weather the crisis.

The latest initiatives are led by Singapore Tourism Board (STB), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Workforce Singapore (WSG), together with the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU). Support measures are rolling out to minimise potential retrenchment, upskill workers and redesign jobs to prepare the sector for when business demand returns.

Businesses will receive support in defraying the costs involved in business transformation and job redesigns, such as the Hotel Job Redesign Initiative and the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme.

Tourism companies will gain support to upgrade the capabilities of their workers through the Training Industry Professionals in Tourism (TIP-iT) fund that will pay 90% of training course fees and trainer fees up from the previous 50% cap.

Applications for assistance can be filed from 1 March to 30 April 2020.