On July 15, 2020, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism Agency and Creative Economy hosted the second international webinar on Indonesia Tourism Series for the Singapore and Malaysia market called “Keeping Up and Ready for New Normal”. The purpose of this event is to update Indonesia’s readiness to encounter the new normal travel era, and to maintain connections with industry partners while Indonesia waits for the lift of government policies on travel restriction, especially in Riau Island. A total of 180 participants with travel agency and media background attended this one-hour session.
Moderated by Kelvin Ong, Country Manager of Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) Malaysia, the event was helmed by three speakers namely Abdul Wahab, Group General Manager PT. Bintan Resort Cakrawala; Andika Lim, Chairman of DPD ASITA Kepulauan Riau; and Putu Sridono, the representative of Batam Immigration Office. The keynote speaker was Vinsensius Jemadu, MBA, Director of Tourism Marketing for Region I (Indonesia, ASEAN, Australia, and OCEANIA, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia.
Batam and Bintan, the most visited islands of Riau in Indonesia are now ready to practice the new normal in order to receive more tourists from nearby countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. According to Abdul Wahab, Group General Manager PT. Bintan Resort Cakrawala, although since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bintan Resorts have been maintaining 0 cases and remained as a safe or ‘green’ zone, they are still implementing new normal protocols, ensuring Cleanliness, Safety, and being Welcoming at every entry point. This includes the Ferry Terminal, and Post 1 land entry point. Main attractions such as Mangrove Tours, Safari Lagoi, Plaza shopping center and water sports areas, as well as public areas are also assured to adhere to these protocols. (food stalls, Lagoi Bay Village).
Apart of that, Bintan Resorts are also ready to coordinate works with the Bintan Resort Council and the Covid-19 task force of Riau Island Province, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Republic of Indonesia, VITO Singapore, travel agencies, event organizers, and even cruise liners. All arriving guests upon arriving at Bintan Resorts are expected to register via mobile phones according to the new normal protocol to enable electronic contact tracing. QR codes are also available to be installed at all attraction venues and new normal protocol electronic handbooks can be accessed through mobile devices.
The tourism industry players of Riau Islands are now ready to receive international holidaymakers once the international border is open tentatively set for September this year. Andika Lim, chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) Riau Islands chapter, mentioned that “ASITA had done several inspections on resorts, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and tourist destinations to make sure all the properties have implemented health care protocols such as cleanliness, health and safety.”
The tour packages for the new normal in Riau Islands are targeting Singaporeans and Malaysians, who are the largest visitors in 2019. The segmentation consist of families, couples, workmates (max 10 person), and sports communities. The tour activities are mainly golfing, trekking, cycling, island hopping, leisure at resorts, go-karting, flying fox, beach activities, paintball shooting, and farm tours. The duration of tour packages include 1-day tours, 2 days 1 night, as well as 3 days 2 nights.
*images from shutterstock, flickr, bintan tourism, bintan resorts
