Share Covid Data From Tourism Spots Says Tour Chief

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The Langkawi travel bubble has been a success, says a tourism association president. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: With travel restrictions being lifted tomorrow, the government has been urged to establish a data centre that will collect Covid-19 data from tourism spots across the country.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Uzaidi Udanis said the data would help those in the tourism industry develop best practices to make travel and tourism safer.
“For example, in Langkawi recently, there was a Covid-19 outbreak in one hotel. So we need to look at what lessons we can learn from there,” he said. “If all the industry players know what went wrong, we can further enhance the SOPs and best practices to make travel and tourism safer.”
Uzaidi said his association, whose members include over 3,000 tour agencies, accommodation and service providers, is already working with Malaysia Productivity Corporation to get industry players to adopt the best practices.
He welcomed the government’s announcement earlier today that fully-vaccinated Malaysians would be allowed to travel across the country and also go overseas from tomorrow.
“This is really fantastic news, it is very timely. The Langkawi travel bubble has been a big success and it will now serve as a model for safe tourism all over the country,” he said. “We hope all industry players and travellers will be responsible and do their part by adhering to SOPs.”
Tan Kok Liang, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents, said the reopening of state borders would restore the confidence in the tourism industry.
The interstate travel ban has been in place since a state of emergency was declared in January.
He encouraged tourism companies to join the certification programmes under Travel Safe Alliance Malaysia. The programme would help boost the confidence of travellers as companies would need to be audited to receive accreditation, he said.
“Everyone, businesses and travellers alike, must do their part,” he said.
RM24.9 million revenue from Langkawi travel bubble
The travel bubble in Langkawi has generated revenue of RM24.9 million since it began on Sept 16, Kedah menteri besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said today.
He said a total of 60,504 tourists had visited Langkawi, with an average of 16 flights a day to the island and two ferry trips a day from Kuala Kedah and Kuala Perlis, as well as two roll-on, roll-off ferry services from Kuala Perlis, Bernama reported.
“Looking further ahead, Langkawi is scheduled to open up to international tourists around November or December. I was made to understand from MAS (Malaysia Airlines) that there is a high demand from the international tourism community for entry to Langkawi,” he said.
Sanusi said the Langkawi Development Authority had introduced the MySafe Langkawi certification to be voluntarily participated by the six business segments of the tourism industry – hotels and resorts, food and beverage, accommodation, retailing and groceries, tourism agencies, as well as tourism attractions.
The menteri besar launched the Langkawi Great Sales 2021 programme today, which will allow tourists to plan ahead for visiting Langkawi, and facilitate entry to tourism attractions without having to queue at ticket counters. -FMT

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