Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Tan Kok Liang said opening interstate borders with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place must be done if the tourism sector is to be salvaged, as “when you have travel restrictions everything dies”.
“We really can’t survive. At this rate, we’ll see many in the industry bleed to death over the next three months,” Tan told FMT. “It has been nearly 13 months since the restrictions were imposed, and I don’t think many of us can hold on much longer.”
He said travel between green zones currently permitted has little or no impact on the majority of industry players, as tourists from major economic areas like Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, who have a higher spending capacity, are still fenced in.
“There is very little impact if people are only holidaying in their own backyard,” he said.
Malaysian Association of Hotels president N Subramaniam agreed, describing the government’s decision to restrict interstate travel as “puzzling”.
“We are unclear as to the main factors contributing to the decision to keep state borders closed.
“The industry had proven before that tourism did not cause further spread of Covid-19, and preventive measures and added SOPs can be put in place to control its spread,” he said.
Subramaniam said Malaysia’s tourism recovery may take longer than three years following recent projections by both the World Tourism Organization and consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.
Shaun Cheah, executive director of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said domestic tourism will have a “huge impact” on the nation’s economic recovery and should be allowed if operators can adhere to strict SOPs.
He said tourists behave differently compared to those who go on “social” travels such as for family gatherings and festivities where physical distancing is difficult to observe.
“They are better able to stay isolated from large groups during their travel,” he said, adding that as tourism is discretionary, those in vulnerable groups can opt not to travel if their health puts them at risk of severe symptoms.
Speaking to FMT earlier this week, economist Carmelo Ferlito said lengthy travel bans will dash Malaysia’s hopes of a quick economic rebound from the pandemic.
He said policymakers should look at Malaysia’s low death rate of 0.37% rather than the daily new cases, which can be influenced by the number of tests conducted.