The head of the Travel Agents Association is urging the Indonesian government to reopen the borders to countries with low cases of COVID-19.
Head of Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Astindo), Elly Hutabarat proposed the reopening during a webinar featuring the group Indonesian Women in Reviving Indonesia’s Tourism on Sunday Sept 27th 2020. Elly stated that the government needs to start reopening the borders to help the Indonesian people strive again.
“We could open a ‘Travel Bubble’ to other countries with strict health protocol enforcement or with countries who have low cases of Covid-19”, Elly said.
In Elly’s opinion, Indonesia can’t keep the borders closed any longer because the of the shattered economy . “I hope The Tourism and Creative Economic Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister will consider our suggestion,” Elly added.
Head of Indonesia Association of Tours, Nunung Rusmiati said that she has met with the Tourism and Creative Economic Minister, Wishnutama Kusubandio to talk about the same thing. “I’ve met Wishnutama and the Malaysian Ambassador to talk about the opening of a travel bubble and they showed their enthusiasm,” Nunung said.
Opening Indonesia’s border for tourism could potentially save the people who have been struggling to survive since the pandemic started. Bali’s tourism based economy collapsed when the borders were closed back in March.
