Many S'poreans going overseas during rare 'super long' weekend due to 2 public holidays

Two public holidays in the lead-up to the June school holidays have created a rare 'super long' weekend, inspiring many Singaporeans to take advantage by travelling abroad earlier than usual.

10 days of leave

Hari Raya Haji on Wednesday, May 27 and Vesak Day on Sunday, May 31, with the following Monday being a public holiday, just as the June school holidays start, means plenty of Singaporeans won't be in Singapore.

Travel agencies that Lianhe Zaobao (Zaobao) spoke to indicated that a large number of Singaporeans have chosen to take advantage of these dates in order to take extended breaks, with many heading overseas.

The timing of the public holidays means that someone can get 10 days' worth of holiday for four days' worth of leave.

This allowed retirees and those without children to take extended trips, with the senior manager of marketing at Hong Thai Travel saying that some customers had left as early as May 23.

Visa-free

Some of the most popular destinations were Japan, China, South Korea, and Vietnam.

The marketing manager of CTC Travel told Zaobao that China was a very popular destination due to the implementation of its visa-free policies.

A mutual 30-day visa-exemption arrangement was agreed in 2023 between Singapore and China and came into effect in Feb. 2024.

The marketing director of Nam Ho Travel confirmed the popularity of China as a destination, and the number of people taking advantage of the long weekend, saying that he had at least 50 tour groups departing during this period.

Destinations such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia continue to be very popular, with many choosing to take cruise tours as well.

School's out

Also noticeable were the number of families with school children who were choosing to start their school holidays earlier.

The vice president of a travel group told Zaobao that most primary and secondary schools held their parent-teacher conferences (PTC) on the last Thursday and Friday of May.

Some families were taking advantage of the Wednesday Hari Raya holiday by taking short trips to neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, but returning before the PTC.

However, he noted that after the PTCs take place on Friday, families would begin to take up even longer holidays, saying that some families were leaving for places as far afield as Europe as early as Friday in order to start their trips for the June school holidays.