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MINISTRY INVITES SINGAPORE TO DISCUSS TRAVEL BUBBLE OPPORTUNITIES

THE Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy invited Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan to discuss the opportunity to implement travel without quarantine (travel bubble).

According to the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said the travel bubble was an agreement with other countries to open entry access for tourists so that bubbles or travel corridors would arise. This plan is carried out to make it easier for tourists to travel in and out of Indonesia, including from Singapore, which has been the largest contributor to the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia.

“Although Indonesia is currently still focused on increasing the movement of domestic tourists to stimulate tourism and Indonesia’s creative economy. However, it is possible that Indonesia will open its doors to conduct a travel bubble. With a note, it depends on whether there is no change in the status of COVID-19 in each country,” he said.

Sandiaga explained, for the short term with all this uncertainty, we are now more focused on national tourism. However, I don’t think it is possible to stretch it out, like with Singapore. Because, I think the entry points for tourists from Singapore are Batam and Bintan.

“Even though the preparation for this travel bubble was still in the discussion and planning stage, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy would continue to strictly discipline health protocols in each Indonesian tourist destination. So, if in the future the travel bubble policy is implemented, Indonesia will be ready, especially in the tourism sector and the creative economy,” he noted.

Furthermore, Sandiaga stated that one of the preparations is to make an agreement with other countries to open entry access for tourists, so that a travel corridor is formed in one of the tourist destinations, Sandiaga will propose several destinations including Bali, Jakarta, Batam and Bintan to be a priority. got the vaccine early. Because these three areas are the entry points for tourists.

“Vaccination has started in Indonesia, I have lobbied that areas such as Bali, Jakarta, Batam and Bintan will also get some priority, because the Bali economy recession is -4 percent due to a decline in tourism performance. Batam and Bintan are also paralyzed,” he affirmed.

He added, with the implementation of the CHSE-based health protocol and the community has found vaccinations, it will also stimulate the tourism sector and the creative economy in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Vivian, said that although the plan for the Singapore-Indonesia travel bubble has not yet been determined when it will be implemented, in his opinion it would not hurt to discuss the preparations that must be made in each country to carry out a travel bubble.

“Even though we have not set a time for the realization of this bubble travel policy, it is still important to discuss it. From this discussion we can find out the priority scale and what I need when this policy is implemented,” Vivian said.

Vivian continued that the main thing that needs to be prepared is strict regulations and health protocols in each country. It is intended that tourists can travel comfortably.

“We do have a limited travel bubble, including in several areas bordering Indonesia. So it is very important to coordinate with the Indonesian government, including in terms of travel protocols, health protocols, and preventive measures. So, from here we can formulate travel and tourism standards. together safely, even though the epidemic is still not over. So, there are indeed quite a lot of detailed regulations that we can start discussing and planning,” he noted.

He also explained that Singapore is focusing on a vaccination program. According to him, vaccination is the main thing that is expected to immediately revive the economy in Singapore.

“We are currently focusing on implementing a vaccination program, because for us it is important to vaccinate as many people as possible, to reach the level of immunity, so that we can further open national borders, open the door to the economy and of course also tourism. So, there are many (good) impacts in this vaccination program,” Vivian concluded. [traveltext.id]