KUALA LUMPUR: Travel enthusiasts are ready to tick destinations off their bucket list with Malaysia set to reopen its international borders on April 1.
Since the announcement on Tuesday, airline companies and tour agencies have reported a surge in bookings for overseas destinations, particularly to Southeast Asian region and Turkey.
AirAsia Super App chief commercial officer (airlines) Tan Mai Yin said bookings for international destinations, through AirAsia flights and its airline partners, had more than doubled cent since the announcement.
She said most Malaysians had booked short getaways to Indonesia (Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya), Singapore, Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket), the Philippines (Manila) and Bangladesh (Dhaka).
"Bookings for popular domestic destinations like Kota Kinabalu, Penang and Langkawi have also recorded a slight increase compared with the previous week.
"For non-AirAsia flights, some of the popular international destinations booked are Singapore, Phuket and London.
"While we have several international services operating, the border reopening will provide a welcome boost to support additional capacity in many of our core international markets, in line with strong pent-up demand," she told the New Straits Times.
Tan said the AirAsia Super App boasted a network beyond the Asean region that covered Europe, the United States, Middle East and Australasia, together with more than 700 airline partners.
"We have also been working closely with tourism bodies to attract tourists in Southeast Asia, where our AirAsia hubs are present, to come to Malaysia."
Beyond the Southeast Asian region, Turkey is one of the most sought-after holiday destinations, according to tour agents.
Fairys Holiday Sdn Bhd managing director Norhaslina Mohd Noor said Malaysia's border reopening on April 1 coincided with the tulip season in Istanbul between late March and early May.
"Besides the tulip season, most Malaysians fly to Turkey during autumn (between September and November) and winter between December and March) that excites snow lovers.
"Apart from tourist attractions, tourists have been swarming Turkey because the country offers hassle-free travel with only a few requirements to comply.
"For example, Turkey does not require travellers to test negative in Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests if they can provide proof of vaccination and do not come from high-risk countries.
"Most Malaysians have been fully vaccinated with more than half having taken the booster shots. So travelling to Turkey will be convenient for them.
"Another reason is that the lira has been on a steady decline since Turkey's last currency crisis in 2018. This offers more spending power to tourists.
"It is also easier for Muslims to get halal food in Turkey."
Besides Turkey, Norhaslina said, her company also recived enquiries from Malaysians interested to go on vacation to Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Finland.
Likewise, FAY Holidays Sdn Bhd managing director Fay Yunus expected Malaysians to embark on getaways to Turkey and Balkan countries once the international borders fully reopened.
However, Fay, whose outbound tourism clients comprise mostly corporate companies, said fewer companies were likely to roll out incentives for overseas trips to their staff compared with the pre-pandemic times.
She doubted whether the border reopening move could generate higher revenues for local tour and travel agencies.
"People may their plan their own trips or go through unlicensed tour agents to cut costs. This puts the fate of licensed tour agents in ambiguity.
"Most of us were grateful when the Langkawi International Travel Bubble was introduced because tourists must go through licensed tour agencies to make their travel arrangements.
"The government must put a similar arrangement in place for inbound and outbound tourism activities so that licensed tour agents can benefit from the border reopening."