Solo dining, travel could help beleaguered tourism industry without causing Covid-19 spikes

A file photo from June of trishaws left idle on Armenian Street in George Town, once bustling with tourists enjoying the World Heritage City site. — ZHAFARAN NASIB/The Star

THE Department of Statistics Malaysia releases the Domestic Tourism Survey at the end of every June and the annual Tourism Satellite Account in September. These two reports provide a wealth of information on Malaysia’s tourism industry encompassing domestic, inbound and outbound tourism.

In 2019, for example, 3.6 million people were employed in the tourism industry, or 23.6% of the 15.1 million workforce in the country. And 2.4 million, or more than two out of every three persons in the tourism industry, were employed in food and beverage and the retail trade.