JAKARTA, Oct 7 — Governor of Indonesia’s Riau Islands Ansar Ahmad said the “travel bubble” scheme with Singapore, initially slated for October 2021, has been cancelled following a surge in COVID-19 cases in the nearby city-state.
The Antara news agency cited Ahmad as stating on Oct 6 that the Riau Islands administration is looking to attract domestic tourists to the province pending the central government’s decision to resume the travel bubble scheme between the province and Singapore in the future, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported.
The provincial government has sent an official letter to the Home Affairs Ministry and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, proposing relaxation on the COVID-19 test certificate requirement to perform inter-province trips.
The governor said tourism spots in Riau Islands have been reopened following an improvement in the activities restriction enforcement ranking (PPKM) to Level 1.
He ensured that local tourism areas have implemented strict health protocols to guarantee visitors’ safety and health and also prevent the surfacing of COVID-19 infection clusters.
On Oct 4, the Indonesian Government declared that the country will reopen to tourists from six countries, namely the Republic of Korea, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and New Zealand, to Bali from October 14.
