KUALA LUMPUR, 18 February 2022: While Malaysia’s tourism industry is hoping and praying for a 1 March reopening to welcome back international tourists, the launch date has come under government review.
First reported by TIN, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri cautioned this week that an evaluation remains ongoing, particularly to address concerns over the timing.
She suggests a full reopening on 1 March is now under reviewed and could be rescheduled based on the outcome of pilot travel bubble projects.
“It needs to be carefully studied before Malaysia’s tourism sector, and international borders can be allowed to fully reopen without the implementation of travel bubbles,” she told local media.
She called for a thorough study and preparations, including discussions with the tourism ministries in other countries.
The country’s National Recovery Council (NRC) the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, however, remain optimistic that depending on the success of the Langkawi Travel Bubble pilot project, a full reopening is imminent either on 1 March or shortly afterwards.
She told local media: ” Further studies are needed as some countries have yet to allow their people to travel, and this must be taken into consideration when deciding a date to reopen our tourism sector fully,”
She made cautionary comments to the media last Monday.
The minister noted that two travel bubble projects in Langkawi, starting on 16 September (domestic travellers) and 15 November (international travellers) the previous year, generated 720,000 local and foreign tourist arrivals with tourism income estimated at MYR750 million as of 31 December 2021.
According to the TIN Malaysia report, the Langkawi International Travel Bubble project as of 9 February had generated 4,274 visitor arrivals without any cases of Covid-19 transmission.
Local media reported on 8 February that as part of the NRC edition 2 recovery plan proposed a full reopening as of 1 March, without quarantine.
However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob subsequently called for a reevaluation that questions the reopening schedule.
(Source: TIN, Malaysia)
