People wearing face masks pose for a picture by the roadside on a hill overlooking the Kuala Lumpur skyline in Ampang on Jan 31, 2020. – Image by Firdaus Latif

Subscribe to our telegram Channel for the latest updates on the news you need to know.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 – Malaysia must begin planning the recovery of its tourism industry, such as implementing strategies to open its international borders to tourists who have received the Covid-19 shots once the Movement Control Ordinance (MCO) 3.0 is in place ends.

Uzaidi Udanis, president of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA), said Malaysia should review and study the best practices of other countries such as Qatar, Maldives and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its efforts to revitalize the deteriorating tourism industry.

“We have to initiate a sandbox (experiment) in which we can test certain destinations, such as Qatar-Malaysia, before opening up to other destinations.

“At the same time, we should also look into whether vaccinated tourists can visit Malaysia without having to go through a quarantine period from October, with bookings through travel agents being mandatory,” he told reporters today in a press conference on Zoom.

He said the association also hopes the National Security Council (MKN) will nod the domestic travel bubble after the MCO, with travel bookings only through travel agents.

To ensure the survival of the tourism industry, Uzaidi called for an automatic, interest-free credit moratorium on all loans that will take effect by the end of the year to all individual tourism actors and tourism companies with credit facilities before March 2020.

He also requested to extend the tax exemption for all travel agents for five years from 2021 to 2025, as the tourism industry is expected to take that long to recover, as well as another round of one-time monetary aid for tourism players.

He also called for the introduction of a special waiver of insurance and vehicle taxes, including the Puspakom fee, for all valid registered tourism vehicles, for three years from 2021 to 2024.

“There are approximately 9,990 registered tour buses on the market. With a minimum rental income of RM 600 per day, these bus companies lose around RM 6 million per day.

“In addition, these bus companies have to pay a high insurance fee for tourist vehicles (vans and tour buses), which is between RM 1,000 and RM 10,000 per year, even though the buses are not in service,” he said.

Meanwhile, Uzaidi also believed that Bank Negara Governor’s latest forecast for Malaysia’s economic growth does not exactly reflect what is happening in the tourism industry.

Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus recently stated that despite the introduction of the Movement Control Ordinance 2.0 and the continued closure of international borders and restrictions on interstate travel, Malaysia was on its way to growth of 6 to 7.5 percent .

“With the announcement of the MCO 3.0, the tourism industry is almost 100 percent paralyzed. There is no growth if interstate (travel is not allowed) and international borders remain closed. It has also been reported that some popular travel destinations including Langkawi have become like ghost islands with no tourists and have suffered enormous losses, ”he said.

He added that a survey of 3,000 MITA members found that so far the pandemic has forced 10 percent of licensed travel agents to close business, 70 percent of member businesses have been put to sleep, while 20 percent are still surviving and active with less than two employees.

With the current high number of Covid-19 infections and deaths reported daily, the association also called on the government to put in place stricter and full lockdowns to ensure the nation breaks the chain of infection.

“We know that it will be difficult for most of us, but we are ready to sacrifice for the country and its people. Once we are successful, we can practice a new norm of travel in strict compliance with the Standard Operating Instructions (SOP), ”he said. – Bernama

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR