TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has long planned to establish a travel bubble with a number of countries in an attempt to recover the pandemic-affected tourism sector that logged a GDP of Rp95 trillion in 2018. The initial plan is to prepare Batam, Bintan in the Riau Islands, and Bali for the travel bubble.

“The government is finalizing the travel bubble implementation in the three regions,” said Covid-19 task force head of behavioral changes, Sonny Harmadi, on June 6.

Tourism areas the government considers proper for the program are those that have logged a low number of active Covid-19 cases, low hospital bed occupancy rate, and loosened public activity regulations.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry will initially open the gates for tourist visits to Bali and Riau Islands. “The local government announced that the green zones in the two provinces will be visited by international tourists after the travel bubble is opened,” said Sonny to Antaranews.

The green zones in Bali include Sanur, Ubud, and Nusa Dua while the green zones for international tourists visits are in the three resorts in the area of Bintan and a number of locations at the golf center in Batam.

The government will also subject specific requirements for international tourists who are permitted to visit the aforementioned areas. Despite not requiring self-quarantine, tourists must go through a PCR swab test with negative results before departing for Indonesia. Tourists must also be subjected to Covid-19 vaccination.

The Tourism ministry is also finalizing a plan to add the countries in the travel bubble which could include Middle Eastern countries UAE and Qatar, China, Singapore, and the Netherlands.

Read: New Zealand to Resume Australia Travel Bubble

ANTARA