Bintan-Singapore travel bubble has a new message: Come back

A group of Singapore travel agents were among the first international visitors to step foot on Bintan when the island destination reopened to quarantine-free travel last Friday.

Two-way quarantine-free travel between Bintan and Singapore officially kickstarted on 25 February, with the first ferry touching down at Bandar Bentan Telani terminal at 11.15am local time. 

These travel agents were thrilled about revisiting Bintan again, and it wasn't hard to see why. Not only did they get a change of scenery from Singapore, they were even more enthusiastic about the prospects of offering the Indonesia resort island to their clients again, many of whom were pent-up for a resort getaway in regional destinations.

Dominic Ong, managing director at Tour East Singapore, said, “Our clients have already done everything there is to do in Singapore the past two years, like taking staycations at Sentosa. Visiting Bintan is a great change of scenery and I’m sure this travel bubble will see good demand.”

Sharing similar sentiments, Javier Ong, executive, business development at Changi Travel services, added, "Bintan is a highly sought-after destination because of its close proximity to Singapore and how far removed it is from our city life. Using Bintan’s wide range of activities and resorts as a selling point is a good place for us to start.”

Since news of the travel bubble broke, these travel agents have been receiving numerous enquiries from clients about booking Bintan getaways.

However, with cross-border travel now requiring more paperwork and restrictions, these agents are looking to sell all-inclusive packages that ease itinerary planning, such as bundling a resorts package with meals, activities and tours, ferry tickets and the obligatory pre-departure and on-arrival PCR tests.

wo-way quarantine-free travel between Bintan and Singapore began on 25 February, with the first ferry touching down at Bandar Bentan Telani terminal at 11.15am local time. Photo Credit: Rebecca Wong

To market Bintan as an attractive destination, they will focus on what made the island popular pre-pandemic − the sun, sand and sea. Also, the wide variety of resort options like glamping locale Natra Bintan, luxury-centric Banyan Tree Bintan and ship hotel Doulos Phos remain attractive, according to Tour East's Ong.

Meanwhile, Bintan’s resort operators are optimistic about the travel bubble’s potential too. Banyan Tree Bintan’s general manager Alpha Eldiansyah, who noted a steady growth of bookings for the month of March, will actively partner travel agents to attract Singaporeans to the destination.

“Travel agents play an important role in helping us develop a market that already existed,” he said. “Besides commissions, we also have packages for them to come and do site inspections. Experiencing the resort for themselves will help them better promote it to clients.”

The resort has rolled out attractive packages for guests too, with perks like complimentary dining and activities such as local village visits. Guests may also pair their stay with activities in other locations, like golfing at Laguna Golf Bintan or water sports at Treasure Bay’s Crystal Lagoon.

To assure travellers about Bintan’s safety, the Bintan Resorts group is also adhering to SG Clean protocols developed with consultants from Singapore.

“We wanted to go a step beyond our basic health & safety measures. Most of our guests are Singaporeans and we want protocols to be readily accepted by them,” said Abdul Wahab, group general manager, Bintan Resort Cakrawala.

According to Tracy Ong, assistant manager, marketing partnership at KKday Singapore, the travel bubble processes and instructions were clearly communicated to visitors prior to their trip, and the actual processes from arrival to departure were smooth − save for the occasional minor issues using the PeduliLindungi app (Indonesia’s contact tracing app) to check in at venues.