The Covid-19 pandemic is no doubt disrupting the Malaysian economy and the quality of life. And despite the governments efforts to ensure the survival of the economy, the recent resurgence of Covid-19 cases has brought most of the of hotels in the country to their knees. The travel and tourism industry, which is the backbone of the global economy, is now in a fight for survival.
As the Malaysian Covid-19 vaccination programme will begin very soon, I believe other than the efforts made by the government, there are additional ways to increase the pace of restarting the travel and tourism industry by speeding up the vaccination process.
Kindly allow me to propose five vital measures to aid the recovery of the industry and also to protect the livelihood and welfare of millions of people in the industry.
> Include hoteliers as frontliners to receive the first stage of vaccination rollout
Just like the frontliners from other industries, hotel workers have remained on the front lines since our first movement control order. They have been dealing continuously with potential Covid-19 patients as many hotels are being used as quarantine centres. Additionally, hotel workers had to deal with the interstate travellers (when such travel was allowed) which adds to the exposure risk.
Therefore, it is critical to categorise hotel workers as frontliners alongside medical, police and army personnel to be in the first batch to be vaccinated.
Singapore, for example, prioritised hotel workers for vaccination as the minister in charged acknowledged that hotel workers are frontliners and the hotel and tourism industry is a critical pillar in their economy.
> Hotels to be used as vaccination deployment centres
With hotels' unique capability and our existing implementation of security measures, we believe that hotels are an ideal venue for vaccination deployment.
Given the fact that there are hotels in every state, city and suburb, hotels have the geographic reach to support a wide distribution of the vaccine.
One hotel from each district can be chosen as the vaccination deployment centre. If there are any Covid-19 positive cases, it would be contained at that particular hotel or district without disrupting the deployments of vaccine in other districts.
This could provide a gleam of hope to recover from this crisis by speeding up the vaccination process.
> Designated tour guides to coordinate groups of vaccine recipients
Tour guides are familiar with coordinating and managing groups of people. With their skillset, they could become an extended arm of healthcare workers.
The tour guides could be given responsibility for specific residential areas and tasked with bringing people from their areas to selected vaccination centres and getting them back home.
This could facilitate the vaccination process, reduce stress on medical professionals and, at the same time, drive income for the industry.
> Vaccinated people to be allowed to travel without having to quarantine
Malaysians who have successfully received a complete dose of vaccine should be allowed to travel domestically and internationally without having to quarantine themselves.
Of course, the SOP would still be adhered to, including physical distancing and wearing masks.
Vaccinated business travellers should also be allowed to travel to manage their business and return to Malaysia without having to quarantine.
> Allow vaccinated international travellers to enter Malaysia
Allowing international travellers to enter Malaysia would be the only way for us to revive the travel and tourism industry here. This can be made possible with a “vaccination document”. As long as international travellers are able to provide proof that they have been vaccinated, they should be allowed to travel to Malaysia.
Many countries are considering this approach as it can revive the travel and tourism industry. Countries such as Cyprus, Iceland, Lebanon, Poland, Romania, and the Seychelles have opened their doors to welcome international visitors. No quarantine or Covid-19 test is required; visitors merely have to provide proof of a complete vaccination and adhere to their travel procedures.
To test the viability of this concept, we can open Malaysia’s borders to allow international (vaccinated) visitors to travel to states that have the highest foreign direct investments in the country. This first three states to open would be Johor, Penang and Selangor, followed by other parts of the country gradually.
We believe this is a solid action plan to avoid any unwanted scenarios. This could be recognised as a globally-harmonised cross-border effort to save the travel and tourism industry and the wider economy.
By using hotels as additional vaccination venues and with the coordination help of tour guides, we could speed up the vaccination process and in turn, hasten the recovery process and benefit all sectors of the economy.
With that, interstate and international travel restrictions can be lifted, albeit with certain procedures, to allow the industry to breathe again.
I strongly believe that with continuous effort and with the right direction, we will be able to recover from this economic catastrophe soon.
The measures recommended are not an overnight process but they are based on what other countries are doing. Together, I hope these measures can save an industry that is facing collapse.
ADRIAN PRAVEEN
Penang
Note: The letter writer is the CEO of a hospitality company based in Penang.
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