MATTA calls for reopening of tours beyond Langkawi

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) has called for a controlled travel itinerary throughout the country rather than just a travel bubble in Langkawi to allow for a more effective and balanced recovery of the tourism sector.

MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said with a controlled travel or fixed itinerary, fully vaccinated travellers could choose local tourism destinations that had achieved herd immunity.

“This is a more effective recovery strategy as it will allow more tourism destinations in Penang, Terengganu, Pahang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak to open up in tandem with Langkawi.

“However, MATTA welcomes the first move for the travel bubble in Langkawi as it is better than nothing,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Tan noted that in Langkawi, a controlled travel fixed itinerary would also be applicable as people would still be at risk of getting infected with Covid-19 without a proper standard operating procedure.“

The pilot project in Langkawi will hopefully be a success, but what if it fails due to unforeseen circumstances? Does that mean other states cannot start tourism activities?“

I believe stakeholders in other states already have their SOP in place. We can’t wait too long as the tourism infrastructure and companies would be ‘dead’ by then,” he said.

Kedah/Perlis Malaysian Association of Hoteliers chairman Eugene Dass said they were anticipating a growth of 20% occupancy rate, which was expected to pick up after October if the country achieved 80% herd immunity.

He believed the Langkawi travel bubble would be “very domestically driven” since the country was still not open for interstate travel.