Kuala lumpur: Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) hopes top resort islands such as Langkawi, Pangkor, Redang, Tioman and Perhentian to achieve herd immunity by the end of August and be ready for reopening early next month.
Tourism minister Nancy Shukri mentioned that this would, however, also depend upon a decision from the government and standard operating procedures being set.
“The decision to reopen the tourism sector has to be made after an in-depth study and with great care to prevent an outbreak which can cause the sector to be closed again. At the same time, MOTAC is updating and finalising the SOPs for the tourism sector,” she mentioned in a statement on Saturday (Aug 14).
According to Nancy, she had a virtual session with 15 representatives from the tourism industry to prepare them for the reopening of the tourism sector, especially those operating the popular resort islands within the nation.
The session was also in line with the recent announcement by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on the easing of measures for individuals who are fully vaccinated.
Nancy mentioned she hoped that all events involved may move in one direction for the smooth execution of the strategic plan.
Amongst those involved within the online meeting with the minister were representatives from the Malaysian Association of Hotels, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents and the Association of Malaysian Spas.
Malaysia reported 20,670 new COVID-19 cases and 260 deaths from the disease on Saturday, according to health director-general Noor Hisham Abdullah.
A total of 31.1 per cent of the nation’s population, or 10,144,199 individuals, had received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, mentioned Health Minister Adham Baba.
