Tourism "bubble" revives Indonesia's "smokeless industry"

 Tourism "bubble" revives Indonesia's "smokeless industry"

On February 23, Indonesia's Riau province welcomed the first group of Singaporean tourists under the agreement of the tourism "bubble" program after nearly two years of closure due to the pandemic.

About 28 Singaporeans docked at Nongsapura port in North Batam and were greeted by Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad while awaiting Covid-19 test results. These travelers are fully vaccinated and have health insurance worth at least S$30,000 (US$22,284) under a one-way travel "bubble" agreement between Singapore and Indonesia.

Governor of Riau, Mr. Ansar Ahmad (yellow shirt) welcomes the first Singapore tourists (Source: wartarakyat)

As a rule, visitors who meet the criteria will be free to move in the tourist "bubble" area without mandatory quarantine. Visitors from Singapore can enter Indonesia from the Nongsapura ferry terminal in Batam and the Bandar Bentan Telani ferry terminal in Bintan.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony, Riau Governor Ansar Ahmad said that the first wave of arrivals marks the revival of the province's tourism industry, which is facing serious "turbulences" in the border context. Closed for nearly 2 years due to pandemic. After the success of the tourism bubble, Governor Riau expects the Vaccine Travel Corridor will be applied to Singapore visitors to Indonesia.

Today, it is expected that Riau will continue to welcome 150 Singaporeans to Bintan Island. In 2019, the number of Singaporean visitors to Indonesia was the second largest after Malaysia. However, last year, due to strict travel restrictions, Singapore ranked 7th among countries with tourists to Indonesia.

Mr. Buralimar, head of the Riau Provincial Tourism Authority, said that Indonesia provides a quota for 500 visitors to Batam per week, while Singapore only allows 350 people per week for the return journey. Returnees must stay longer than 2-3 nights if the quota is exceeded. Therefore, the province of Riau is continuing to work with Singapore to make a fair adjustment to optimize tourism policy.

Previously, on January 24, Indonesia opened two tourist islands Batam and Bintan in the Riau archipelago province to Singaporean tourists. Bintan and Batam islands are very close to Singapore (15-30 km away), so before the Covid-19 pandemic, Singaporean tourists easily came here by ferry. From the end of November 2021, Singapore has unilaterally allowed Indonesian citizens from Jakarta to come to Singapore through the "vaccine travel corridor" (VTL) program.