WITHOUT a doubt, Covid-19 had unleashed havoc all over the world and one of the worst affected sectors is the tourism and travel industry. However, a beacon of light had possibly shone on the industry with the advent of the travel "bubble." Some call it "travel corridors" while others name it "air bridges."
The bubble or corridors denotes a safe or a protected perimeter between two travel destinations or countries or states already declared as green zones ready to receive tourists which is set to help the tourism sector recover. Already there are bubbles being mooted between Australia and New Zealand and between South Korea and 10 territories in China.
In Europe, a safety bubble has been proposed between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as the world kickstarts efforts to reopen the tourism sector. This is a much needed injection for European tourists who have already given up on their summer holidays.
In Penang, the state government had also proposed to implement the travel bubble approach between states declared as green zones to help the domestic tourism sector recover. The concept is designed to resume travel activities and restart tourism industries while adapting to the new normal.
Penang Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin had said the concept was one of the measures studied in efforts to plan ahead once the Federal government lifted the ban on interstate travel.
"As Penang is currently practising the Gradual Recovery Strategy, this could be a viable solution to begin with, rather than opening all our borders at once and risking transmission again, which will bring us back to square one and bring to waste the efforts to contain the virus which took us months long," said Yeoh.
The gradual and staggered approach would allow safe travel zones between green zones and reopen economies for the tourism and travel sector. For starters, the initial stage of the travel bubble concept would only be limited to tourist attractions in Penang before expanding into other states.
The bubble could kick-start the tourism economy gradually, but its progress has to be monitored constantly. The travel could eventually be extended between green states in the peninsular. States in the peninsula must ensure that they remain green zones before opening their tourism borders to welcome others.
Perhaps in Malaysia, the obvious and nearest travel bubble is with Singapore. Granted the situation in Singapore is extremely volatile right now but it only involves foreign workers while the rest of the population are relatively Covid-19 free.
Perhaps the two countries could consider setting up their very own travel bubble. Subsequently, this concept could be expanded to the rest of Asean such as Vietnam and Thailand which are also headed towards green zone status.
But will this travel bubble concept work? Ultimately for the initiative to work, the essential requirement is trust between countries. Safe travel corridors also require the cooperation of multi agencies.
This includes the health ministries of both nations, the immigration, customs, airport authorities and the tourists themselves who must be honest in their health status backed by health certificates. Everybody must practise the standard operating procedures such as the social distancing, hand sanitisers and face masks.
Participating partners must also have a standard operating procedures between them involving hotels, restaurants and tourism spots. The economies of nations are fledgling and the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine is still far away.
Perhaps, this novel idea could be the much needed ray of hope for the people of the world and a much needed impetus to revive the almost lifeless tourism and travel industries.
The writer is former NST Business assistant editor.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times