KUALA LUMPUR: Members of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is suspending all outbound travel to mainland China due to the spread of the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCov).
This is in line with China’s National Tourism Administration (CNTA) ruling ordering suspension of travel in and out of mainland China.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said the suspension period began on Monday (Jan 27).
“At the moment, we are complying with CNTA instructions.
”However there is no specific date when we can resume normal business operations.
”We are waiting for the green light from CNTA before we send our travel groups to mainland China again,” Tan told the New Straits Times.
He said the suspension, which resulted in travel groups canceling their travel plans made via MATTA members, only applied to outbound travel.
“We are looking at putting on hold our operations and canceling group travels to mainland China until February.
“However, we are still waiting until further notice by CNTA to resume operations. Hopefully, operations can resume by March.”
Tan said it was still too early to suspend travel to other destinations due to the outbreak.
“We still operate outbound travel to other destinations,” he said.
The Coronavirus outbreak has put 16 cities in China under lockdown, in an attempt to contain spread of the virus. The lockdown has been the largest quarantine in human history, as it affected an estimated 46 million people.