Travel bubbles: Trust, transparency in health data pivotal

KUALA LUMPUR: Trust and transparency in health data between governments are pivotal for the establishment of air travel bubbles at a time when the global community is still being affected by the Covid19 pandemic, a forum heard yesterday.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) Asia Pacific regional director of airports and external relations, Vinoop Goel said he believed this issue was also the main reason for countries to be hesitant in making the move.

“Of course we understand that each country wants to show that it has the best healthcare system and capable of containing the virus… but for travel bubbles to work, each country must be transparent so that real risk assessment can be made.

“There will always be a risk but with transparent data, proper measures can be taken to manage the risk better,” he said at a digital forum, ‘ Travel Reimagined: An APEC and Airbnb Tourism Forum’ through video conferencing here yesterday.

The forum, jointly organised by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) with Airbnb, also featured Singapore Tourism Board chief executive officer, Keith Tan and Airbnb senior vice president for Global Policy and Communications, Chris Lehane.

Meanwhile, Tan said negotiation for the establishment of air travel bubbles could be a long process which involved looking into all aspects, especially the risk factors.

In order for it to work, he said countries must find suitable partners to dance along to each demand and be willing to compromise on finding workable solutions.

“What is important is that assessments or decisions must be science-based, such as whether to decide on the best quarantine period or Covid-19 testing,” he added. — Bernama