Kelantan police said the number of vehicles entering the state had increased by 20% through Jeli, Pasir Puteh and Gua Musang.

Terengganu expects 1.5 million tourist arrivals by the end of December, said executive councillor Ariffin Deraman. He said there had been “very encouraging bookings” for hotels and tourism activities.

“Although Terengganu will soon experience the monsoon season, we very much welcome the arrival of tourists because there are still many tourist locations operating during that period,” he told reporters.

He said many people had expressed a longing to travel again having become tired of being confined to their homes because of pandemic restrictions.

Penang state executive councillor Yeoh Soon Hin said 50,000 tourists were expected to come to the state. Hotel room bookings were expected to increase by up to 60% this weekend.

He said Penang’s tourism sector would fully recover by around June next year when foreign tourists start returning to Penang.

Highway authority gets teams ready

The Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) has stepped up preparedness in emergency and accident management on 30 highways in the country to face the increase in traffic.

An LLM official, Syed Mohd Faizal Said Ahmad, said total traffic was expected to increase to four million vehicles a day compared to 3.5 million vehicles currently.

Syed Mohd Faizal said highway patrol units would conduct 24-hour operations. Emergency response teams were on standby at several hotspots on the North-South Expressway, Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway, East Coast Expressway and on the Penang Bridge.