KUALA LUMPUR: Hotel and tourism industry players want the National Security Council (NSC) to enforce clear and sustainable Covid-19 prevention rules as they gear up to welcome local tourists in Langkawi from Sept 16 under a travel bubble pilot programme.
Several associations said clarity was crucial to ensure the revival of Langkawi's tourism industry was a success. It could also start the ball rolling for the reopening of other tourist destinations nationwide.
With less than two weeks before the pilot programme kickstarts, they have called for the NSC to speed up the announcement of the standard operating pocedures (SOP) to prepare them and travellers.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Uzaidi Udanis said all eyes would be on Langkawi on Sept 16, which coincided with the Malaysia Day celebrations and could attract many local tourists being a public holiday.
"It will be the test day for us. It is very important that Langkawi is a success story and if it is, it can set the (reopening of tourism) precedence for other places in the country.
"Currently, we are waiting for the SOP and I hope it will not be too late. We need to know what we need to comply with so that we can prepare for the reopening on the right foot to ensure our best services. We do not want anything that could cause a delay in our operations.
"Clarity of the SOP as well as ensuring sustainability are vital. This could be a challenge as we know the virus is dynamic. We hope the process can be expedited. People are already making plans and we have been receiving enquiries," he told the New Straits Times.
Uzaini said they were working with tourism players on room rate campaigns and entrance fee promotions to stimulate demand so that tourism activities could remain active until next year.
Such campaigns, he said, would enable tourists to buy advance tickets or vouchers and use them anytime, taking into consideration that people have lost their jobs during the pandemic and have less spending power.
"We do not want 'over-tourism' but we still want some demand, and we do not want 'revenge-tourism' which is not sustainable. They could use the vouchers this year or the next," he added.
Malaysian Association of Hotels chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng said Langkawi was a good start as tourism needed to restart somewhere.
Langkawi, he said was being prepped for revival of the tourism industry and could set an example for other destinations.
"SOP and mechanisms, however, must be clear. We cannot afford any backtracking. It can be improved and enhanced along the way.
"The initial concern was vaccination of tourism workers and that had since been addressed. From there, the industry needs to deal with adherence to SOP to ensure the safety of all.
"The mechanism will be set as a guideline to the future reopening of the rest of the tourism industry, including international arrivals overall. This is important to place Malaysia on the world map again as a choice destination," said Yap.
Yap said most importantly, the reopening served as an indicator of the sustainability of the tourism industry that it would recover and there was commitment from all parties.
This, he said, would also drive talents back to the industry, having lost substantially over the past one and a half years.
"We have learnt from other similar initiatives such as Phuket (in Thailand). It is crucial to understand that the initiative is not foolproof, nor is it perfect.
"It will not guarantee zero Covid-19 cases, whether local or imported infections. But it is an exit plan to live with Covid-19, having understood that it will not go away.
"We must be able to accept a threshold percentage of Covid-19 cases from it and contingency measures are prepared in advance to deal with it to minimise local risks. This is the only way to move forward," he said.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said the cooperation from all parties to abide by the SOP was needed to ensure that the travel bubble would not burst.
"It has to be a shared responsibility between the local community and visitors in terms of compliance to SOP and also strict enforcement.
"The uplifting of restrictions for interstate travel must be announced early to allow planning of travel arrangements to facilitate bookings," he said.