Travel Bubble: A Win-Win Situation

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We know that the ongoing pandemic has created havoc everywhere. It has affected the lives and the economy in general, around the world. But we have to keep moving. So, some countries have found a solution- A Travel Bubble.

In this article, I will try to discuss the Travel Bubble and the developments around the world regarding the same.

What is Travel Bubble

As of now, there is a restriction in many countries, where people are either not allowed to enter from abroad or they have to undergo compulsory quarantine measures after they enter the destination country.

A Travel Bubble is an agreement between two or more regions having no/ fewer pandemic cases, to re-open borders for people of these regions without any need of quarantine at the destination.

Though, people entering from other than the agreed areas will have to follow regular quarantine rules.

For example, if a travel bubble is agreed between Australia and New Zealand,  then the people travelling between these two countries will be exempted from quarantine measures. However, anyone travelling to Australia or NewZealand from South Africa will have to follow quarantine protocols.

Travel Bubbles are also being called as ‘Travel Bridges’, ‘Safe Zones’, ‘Green Lane’, ‘Air Bridge’ etc.

In my opinion, in the concept of ‘Travel Bubble’, the word ‘Bubble’ itself means a secure zone: An infection-free/ low- infection area. If we think about it closely, we will see such bubbles around us.

For example, luckily the colony where I live has no cases of pandemic. So we are unaware that we are actually in a bubble. Here we take self precautions and move around freely in the colony’s common areas.

Going a step further, I would say, our houses are the safest ‘Bubbles’ if the occupants are free from infection.

Now, if we add mobility between two bubbles, it can be called as a Travel Bubble. So, though for easy understanding, I used the example of two countries, a bubble can be between two countries, states or cities.

We need to understand that the travel bubble doesn’t waive off existing personal precautions such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distancing etc. It only exempts the travellers from quarantine protocols at the destination.

Benefit and Consideration in a Travel Bubble

The advantages of a ‘Travel Bubble’:-

a)  Social reconnect: Due to the pandemic, people are avoiding to visit nearby cities/states, even if the cases are contained there, due to quarantine rules. As a result, many might have not met their relatives for long.

Following joke explains the situation very well: An employee asks his employer, for a month’s leave to go home to meet his family for two days. When the employer questions the logic, the employee explains: Two weeks self-isolation on reaching the home city, two weeks self-isolation on coming back and 2 days to spend time with family.

If travel bubbles are agreed to at least between the nearby places then such a problem can be solved.

b)  Boost to the travel and tourism industry: Ever since lockdowns have been placed, the travel and tourism industry is badly hit. Though domestic travel is now allowed in most of the countries, international travel is still restricted. This has affected airlines the most as there are negligible international operations and the domestic operations are also not running in full capacity.

With the lack of travel, the hospitality industry is affected too. In many countries, hotels/ restaurants operations are either banned or curtailed for now.

If the Travel Bubble is introduced then at least people from those countries will be able to travel, thus giving a much-needed push to these battered industries.

c)  In-Person business visits: In certain business situations, an in-person visit is needed to go-ahead in a business deal. Every time a video-conference does not serve the purpose. Such visits are being postponed as self-isolation rules at the destination would lengthen the visit. If a Travel Bubble is introduced then business executives will willingly travel to finalise business deals. It will have a positive effect on the economy as a whole and with this business activity will catch up.

Though the benefits of introducing a Travel Bubble are there, it also has a very important consideration.

The success of a Travel Bubble depends on how well the pandemic has been contained in the places agreeing to form a Travel Bubble. Ideally, a travel bubble would be beneficial if there are no pandemic cases in the aforesaid places.

However, a Travel Bubble can also be introduced if there are a few cases in the agreed places but then it needs to be seen, how well the cases are managed there.

Travel Bubble and India

Domestic air travel was permitted in India from 25^th May 2020.

Free movement of people by road/ rail anywhere within India was allowed by Government of India from 1^st June 2020.

But this cannot be considered as Travel Bubble as the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations regulate the travel in their respective jurisdiction by enforcing quarantine protocols for people coming from other states by any mode of transport.

As per a statement on 23^rd June 2020 on the official twitter account of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, the Ministry is in talks with US, UK, Germany and France for establishing ‘individual bilateral bubbles’: India-US, India-UK, India-Germany and India-France.

These agreements if finalized would be the first step in establishing the free movement of international passengers between India and the other country. I hope the governments will ensure that the pandemic has been suitably contained in the cities connected by these flights.

In my opinion, the Government of India should also consider establishing similar individual Travel Bubble with Singapore and Thailand. The countries have relatively fewer active pandemic cases and such a move can help in boosting tourism.

Travel Bubbles around the world

Till now, the following travel bubbles are either established or are in talks:

a)  Baltic States: The first Travel Bubble was created between the European countries viz. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania (commonly known as ‘Baltic States’) from 15^th May 2020. These countries opened borders for residents of this region, enabling free movement. However, anyone coming from other countries will be required to follow quarantine rules.

b)  Atlantic-Canada Travel Bubble: A Travel Bubble will come into effect on 3^rd July 2020 between the Canadian provinces: Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The residents of these provinces can move freely between the bubble without the need of 14- day self-isolation. However, this does not apply to the visitors even from other Canadian provinces. They will need to follow the self-isolation rules if entering any of these provinces.

c)  Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble: New Zealand and Australia are working on creating a travel bubble across the  Bass Strait between New Zealand and mainland Australia. It is reported that the Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group, working on this proposal feels that the bubble will be operational by September 2020.

d)  Asia-Pacific travel bubble:  A minister of the Indonesian Government announced on 12^th June 2020  that Indonesia is in a discussion with governments of Australia, South Korea, Japan and China to create a Travel Bubble to resume travel between these countries.

e)  Austria and Germany: Austria and Germany opened the land border between two countries on 15th June 2020. This move is expected to re-start tourism as Austria receives most foreign visitors from Germany. (However, after a sudden increase in pandemic cases in German town Gutersloh, the lockdown was reimposed in the town on 23rd June).

f)    U.K. Air Bridge: To boost its economy by receiving foreign tourists and to allow its citizens to go on a holiday etc in other European countries, the UK is planning to introduce Air Bridges with most of the European countries. The list of countries with which the Air Bridges are being established will be announced later this week. The BBC reports that at least 15 European countries including France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Germany are expected to be on the list. The countries will be categorised based on active pandemic cases there in Red Amber and Green category. The travellers from Amber and Green category countries will not have to quarantine in the UK. It is said that the categories are not fixed. They can be changed based on the number of cases. The bridges can also be closed if cases rise in the UK or the other countries. Similarly, more countries will be added to this list in future. The bridges are expected to be functional shortly, though an official date has not been announced.

Conclusion

We all would like to travel freely as we did before the pandemic but till the time situation gets further controlled, the Travel Bubble is the midway between the lockdown and free movement. This method will help in reconnecting and to restart the much-needed economic activity while keeping everyone safe from the effects of the pandemic. Thus making the travel bubble a win-win situation.

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