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THE Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy continues to periodically monitor the plan to implement the Travel Corridor Arrangement (TCA) or Travel Bubble in Bali, Batam and Bintan (3B).
TCA or travel bubble in 3B will be a pilot project to bring foreign tourists to the country in order to revive the tourism sector and the creative economy that was affected by the pandemic.
According to the Deputy for Strategic Policy at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, R. Kurleni Ukar, in his statement in Jakarta, Tuesday (13/4), said to get to the implementation of TCA in corridor 3B, many stages must be completed.
He explained for that we need joint collaboration between the central government, local governments, and other tourism stakeholders. In Riau Islands, there are two zones that will be prepared as locations for the travel bubble, namely Nongsa in Batam and Lagoi in Bintan, while in Bali there are three zones prepared, Ubud, Sanur and Nusa Dua.
“Towards the implementation of the TCA in 3B, we monitor and evaluate every time. For Bali, we do monitoring every two weeks. Batam-Bintan once a week. In each of these areas we have initiated the formation of a working group that will cooperate with us to prepare reports and developments related to the readiness of the upstream-downstream sector, both in the parecraf or supporting sectors ahead of the implementation of TCA,” he said.
Then, continued Kurleni Ukar, the acceleration of vaccination in 3B is something that needs to be considered not only for vaccination for tourism & creative economy but also for the people in the zone, so that the zone can become a zone with a low risk of transmission at the time the TCA is implemented. In addition to vaccination, The implementation of the 3M and 3T protocols still needs to be done in a disciplined manner by all levels of society, so that the pandemic can be quickly controlled.
“CHSE certification will also continue to be carried out at 3B. Both in the tourism business, products, and destinations. However, there are several supporting efforts that are not in the domain of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy which also need to implement a health protocol based on the CHSE principle so that tourists feel safe and comfortable when using it. Such as tourist entrances at airports, terminals, stations. Then the mode of transportation, both land and air, is an important part,” he noted.
Furthermore, said Kurleni Ukar, business establishments that support the tourism sector and the creative economy also need to apply the CHSE-based health protocol. Like in Bali, for example, there are money changers, pharmacies, souvenir shops, and others.
“We continue to do monitoring and evaluation at 3B, so that it is ready to become a destination for foreign tourists to visit. Everything is done in precondition, both safe routes, safe zones, end-to-end transportation, referral hospitals, mitigation SOPs. We are preparing everything together with ministries/institutions, local government and related industries,” he affirmed.
However, according to President Joko Widodo’s direction, the implementation of TCA in Bali takes into account the existing situation, if it is more conducive then a TCA can be carried out in the period June-July 2021. On the other hand, if the development of the COVID-19 case increases, it will be reviewed.
“The Governor of Riau Islands proposed the implementation of TCA for the Bintan Lagoi area starting April 21, 2021. However, it is still considering whether vaccination can be resolved, COVID-19 is under control, and the response from the Singapore government. They prepared several scenarios, namely on April 21, then May 1, or on June 1, 2021,” he concluded. [traveltext.id]
