ALOR SETAR: Kedah tourism players lauded government's decision to reopen the international borders as it would accelerate the sector's recovery process, after being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In thanking the federal government, Langkawi Homestay Association chairman Mohtar Shabudin Ismail said the border reopening would be a shot in the arm for the island's tourism players.
"It is the most anticipated news by the tourism players. This will help to accelerate Langkawi's tourism sector recovery after the launch of Langkawi International Travel Bubble (LTIB) in November.
"We are confident that the decision to relax most of the existing SOP (Standard Operating Procedures) for fully vaccinated visitors beginning April 1 will draw more international travellers to Langkawi," he told the New Straits Times.
Mohtar said the association was hopeful that the Tourism Ministry would ramp up promotions for Langkawi.
"The number of foreign travellers is picking up since the LTIB was launched in November. But, we hope the government will intensify efforts to promote the reopening of our border to the international market," he said.
Mohtar said besides Langkawi, the move would also benefit the other tourism players in Kedah especially those operating at the Malaysia-Thailand border towns in Bukit Kayu Hitam and Changlun.
Lee Ai Choo, the operator of Border Gateway Services in Changlun, said she was thrilled by the news.
"We have waited for two years for this news. I really hope that business will return to what it was before," she said when contacted.
Lee said the move would help to rejuvenate businesses at the international border towns which had been badly affected by the border closure two years ago.
"With more people travelling between the border check-point, the business community here will stand to benefit from it," she said.
Lee, however, appealed to both Malaysians and the international travellers to make good use of the government's decision to reopen the borders by strictly observing the SOP.
Restaurant operator in Napoh, Johari Isa, applauded the move as business had been severely affected since the border was closed for tourism activities in early 2020.
"Most of my customers are southern Malaysians who make a stop for meals while travelling to Thailand, so the border reopening a blessing for business community in this town," he said.
On concern over the impact of border reopening to the spike of Covid-19 new cases, Johari believe Malaysia's high vaccination rate should be able to mitigate severe symptoms among those infected.
"I personally experience this when I contracted the virus recently but thankfully, I only developed mild symptoms as I have been fully vaccinated.
"We can't be living in fear and close our borders forever. It is killing the economy and the people's livelihood.
"Like it or not, we will have to live with Covid-19 but we need to do our part in getting the vaccines," he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday that Malaysia will enter the "Transition to Endemic" phase with the country's borders set to be opened on April 1.