LABUAN: Tourism Malaysia Sabah has carried out a pilot programme on Labuan Island to prepare for a domestic tourism bubble.
Its director, Mohd Faharuddin Hatmin said the programme was like Langkawi Island, which was the first to resume domestic travelling last month.
"This is the first pilot programme by Tourism Malaysia Sabah because we have to get ready for a possibility when Labuan will reopen to welcome visitors," he said when met at the end of the programme at a resort here.
The programme on Oct 3-7, involved the participation of bloggers and members of the media from Sabah and the peninsula.
The important lessons learnt from the programme were that visitors must always comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the National Security Council, he said.
"SOP compliance is the key to success in this travel bubble concept, regardless of which states you are travelling in Malaysia.
"For instance, if we enter Labuan and Sabah, if the SOPs say Covid-19 test is required, we must comply, so we need to understand the SOPs of other places before entering," he said.
The local authorities have their reasons to determine the SOPs as every place has its challenges, he said.
On the travel bubble concept, he said the visitors' safety starts from one day until they are back. They must move from point to point and cannot divert to other places.
"We have to adapt to a travel bubble, which will be the new norm of travelling in the future," said Faharuddin.
Feedback from the programme showed that Labuan industry players are ready to accept tourists anytime as they had spent the lockdown period repairing their facilities and improving services, he said.
He said the programme is not only to promote Labuan as a weekend holiday destination but to encourage visitors to stay longer to explore the island.
"To achieve this, we need to have value-added activities in place such as recreational activities to serve as side programmes for visitors to experience besides their main itinerary," he said.
He said the travelling trend of a post-Covid-19 pandemic will see holidaymakers opting for more niche activities such as to the islands and scuba diving to avoid crowded places, which is where Labuan has it all.
"Labuan is famous for wreck diving besides the museum and the war memorial, which are all additional attractions that can woo visitors to the island," said Faharuddin.
The tourism industry in Labuan was also badly hurt by the pandemic but because of passion, the industry players remain resilient as they had weathered many challenges before, such as H1N1 and SARS.
"But Covid-19 is the worst, but I believe they will come back stronger as I observed that they are ready and in high spirit to reopen.
"For Tourism Malaysia, we will assist in terms of promotion and marketing to make sure Labuan is an ideal destination for tourists.
"Tourism Malaysia will also do a series of virtual promotions from time to time to provide information to visitors about the attractions in Labuan," he said.
Among the places of interest in Labuan include the Chimney, the bird park and Rusukan Besar Island.