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Indonesia opens travel bubble for Singaporeans
Fully vaccinated Singaporeans can once again enter Indonesia without quarantine, but only Batam and Bintan in Riau Islands, for now.
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I
ndonesia has opened a “travel bubble” to allow vaccinated Singaporeans to enter Batam and Bintan in Riau Islands without the need to undergo quarantine.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday that COVID-19 infection rates in Batam and Bintan were relatively low at fewer than 20 cases per 100,000 people.
“The COVID-19 situation is relatively under control in these areas,” he said during an online press briefing on Monday. “This [decision] will surely boost tourism in Batam and Bintan.”
To take advantage of the arrangement, Singaporeans traveling to Riau Islands, the Indonesian province closest to Singapore, must have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, hold a visa and present a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than three days prior to arrival.
Travelers must also have health insurance with coverage of at least S$30,000 (US$22,284) and download PeduliLindungi and Bluepass, the COVID-19 tracing apps from Indonesia and Singapore, respectively.
Details of the travel bubble arrangement would be specified in the upcoming COVID-19 taskforce circular letter, Airlangga added.
Read also: Tourism recovery faces setback amid new variant
“Tourists utilizing the travel bubble cannot leave the bubble areas, which are Nongsa in Batam and Lagoi in Bintan,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said in a separate press conference, also on Monday.
Travelers from Singapore can only enter Batam and Bintan through Nongsapura Port in Batam and Bandar Bentan Telani Port in Bintan.
Sandiga said that, while Bandar Bentan Telani usually catered to 2,400 travelers per day, it would only welcome around 50 to 100 travelers during “the early phase of reopening.”
“Today marks the first trial of the travel bubble. The President has agreed that this is a prototype project for further tourism reopening,” he said, adding that more travel destinations would be reopened in the second and third quarters of the year nearing the G20 events in Indonesia.
Read also: Tourism ministry banks on G20 to rekindle Bali’s allure
Singapore accounted for the second-largest number of visitors to Indonesia in 2019, after Malaysia. Last year, however, it ranked only seventh, as the city-state imposed strict travel curbs.
Meanwhile, Riau Islands Governor Anshar Ahmad said it was “ready” to welcome tourists.
“Based on a serological survey, 90 percent of the people in Riau [Islands] have [coronavirus] antibodies. This is a scientific basis for our friends in Singapore and other countries that shows we are ready to welcome you,” he said in a statement on Friday.
