PUTRAJAYA: The domestic tourism industry will be galvanised with reinventions and aggressive digital promotion to restore confidence in the market following its reopening at the onset of the Recovery Movement Control Order.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said five strategies had been identified under a recovery plan, including the prioritisation of social media channels, blogs and e-commerce sites.
"(This is) to remodel promotions and marketing on instilling confidence of local and foreign tourists, that Malaysia is a safe and ideal destination which always prioritises on cleanliness, hygiene and safety.
"We will be upping the quality of service and tourism products especially in terms of cleanliness and safety, in line with standard operating procedures (SOPs) drawn up by the National Security Council (NSC)," Nancy said in her speech to launch the Reigniting Domestic Tourism Campaign today.
The strategies also include reinventing tourism products, government and industry insiders partnership, improving ease of travel in the "new normal" environment and strengthening commitment for sustainable tourism.
A survey would also be carried out to strengthen domestic tourism through the 'Cuti-Cuti Malaysia' campaign and in preparation for an increase in foreign tourists from nearby countries upon the reopening of the country's borders.
"A 'travel bubble' will be created for green zone countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia or Asean countries and those in the Asia Pacific region, that are safe and acknowledged by the World Health Organisation, the Health Ministry and Home Ministry," she said.
Nancy said the cancellation of Visit Malaysia Year 2020 did not deter efforts to promote the country as a safe tourist destination.
She said her ministry had organised more than 12 engagement sessions with government agencies and industry insiders to ascertain strategies on overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic's economic impact.
"There are eight tourism sub-sectors that will be allowed to operate from today (Wednesday), namely arts, culture and heritage exhibitions at public premises and facilities, hotels, tourism agencies, tour guides, tourism training institutes, the Homestay Malaysia Experience programme, adventure tourism activities, scuba diving and snorkelling.
"We must adhere to the SOPs set by the NSC."
Based on a survey by Tourism Malaysia on 13,797 locals, 50.9 per cent believe that domestic travel would be safer after the Movement Control Order period, 84.2 per cent believe that the pandemic influenced disposition on travelling and 71.3 per cent picked domestic getaways over overseas travel.