Malaysia To Keep Tourists Out Until Q2 Next Year
If you’re planning your long-awaited getaway across the border upon hearing the reopening of Malaysia’s border with Singapore for essential travel, hold your horses.
In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review recently, Nancy Shukri, Malaysian minister of tourism, arts and culture said that Malaysia may keep its borders closed to international tourists till Q2 next year.
The government is also redrafting a “green” list of countries after seeing the second and third waves of the ‘rona in some countries. Nancy mentioned that the reopening of borders with Singapore for essential travel was a positive step, but they have to remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to keep Malaysian public from the deadly virus.
Singapore remains Malaysia’s top 5 sources of tourists in 2019 and JB central is feeling the pinch of losing the biggest source of their income since the pandemic.
Noor Hisham Abdullah, the director-general of Malaysia’s health ministry is calling for a further clampdown of the borders to safeguard the interest of all Malaysians. It is due to concern of the sudden infection spikes in countries that initially beat the virus like Korea.
“If they are having challenges, we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” he said. “So we need not ease our borders, but tighten them further.”
Malaysia is not the only travel destination that’s rethinking reopenings, Bali is also shelving their initial plans to welcome international tourists starting September as the country is still battling high numbers of Covid-19 infections.
The economic impact of the ‘rona is affecting the travel sector the worst as it is a people-oriented industry. Malaysia pumped in around RM 40 million (approx. SGD13.1 million) for their Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign before it was subsequently called off. An estimated RM45 billion worth of tourist spending revenue was lost from Jan to June 2020.
Businesses and hotels closed down for good during the lockdown and the latest one rumored to bite the dust is Puteri Pan Pacific, a hotel that almost all Singaporeans would have stayed at once upon a time.
It seems like we can only dream of travelling for now.
Reporter’s Opinion:
“Aku rindu JB, I wish they open soon.”
“Aku rindu Desaru.”
“I miss Penang food.”
Like millions around the world, even my travel plans were destroyed thanks to the pandemic.
It is sad to see the businesses that have no choice but to close for good because they were not making money. It is even stranger to see airplanes being grounded. As well as the staff that are either retrained or laid off.
I think right now all we can do is pray that the situation improves and wait for the day when borders are open. Have faith, the airplanes will soar again.
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