Flying high again: Suzzy Tan Zhu Sir (left) and Siti Nor Fatitah Syuhadah give Firefly’s new livery promoting the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia and #GoJalanLah campaigns the thumbs up. — SS KANESAN/The Star
SHAH ALAM: Malaysia is again a preferred tourist destination with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, says Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said tourists arrivals are increasing because there is no requirement to be quarantined, undergo extra PCR and RTK Covid-19 tests, or to purchase Covid-19 insurance.
“Our restaurant operating hours are also a bit relaxed so these are the factors that have encouraged travellers to our country,” she told the media yesterday after officiating the #GoJalanLah campaign.
Nancy said Malaysia had seen about one million travellers arrive since April 1. The number meant that the country had reached the halfway mark of its Malaysia Truly Asia 2022 campaign target of two million tourist arrivals.
“From Singapore alone we had received about 600,000 travellers.
“We are optimistic that we will be seeing a rise in these figures from other countries such as Japan and India.
“Remember, to reach our target of two million tourist arrivals in Malaysia, we should also empower our domestic tourism sector to ensure its inclusive contribution to the economy, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” she added.
The #GoJalanLah campaign is a one-year collaborative advertising campaign between Tourism Malaysia and Firefly Airlines, running from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023.
It offers travellers flight tickets and accommodations discounts of up to 35%, starting from RM188.
Firefly chief executive officer Philip See said it is ready to support the government’s initiatives in boosting domestic tourism.
He added the campaign covers flights from Subang Jaya to Penang, Alor Setar, Kuching and Johor Baru among others.
“Beginning next week, we will also restart flights to international destinations within the South-East Asian region such as Singapore and Phuket.
“We hope this will also encourage more travellers from these countries to come to Malaysia,” he added.
During the campaign, the Firefly livery will be decorated with “Cuti-Cuti Malaysia” and Tourism Malaysia’s 50th-anniversary celebration logo to encourage Malaysians to travel within the country, in addition to displaying a QR code with over 68 travel destinations on its aircraft.
