KUCHING: Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Sarawak Chapter chairman John Teo hopes for the number of daily Covid-19 cases reported in Sarawak to decline below the four-digit mark before the state can open up for tourism, including a travel bubble option.
He noted that Sarawak was now vaccinating children under the age of 18 years, starting with 16- to 17-year-olds and to be followed by younger teenagers.
“The state is expecting to complete the vaccination by the end of October this year. This will lead to at least 90 per cent of Sarawakians being vaccinated,” he said on Tuesday (Sept 21).
He thus believed that Sarawak should be able to open up for domestic inter-district tourism by November or December this year, depending on the Covid-19 cases then.
He said that only with the success of inter-district travel could the state then open up further for inter-state travel, followed eventually by international travel.
“Domestic travel remains very important, and we need to ensure the narrative being put out can increase the travellers’ confidence and open them to the multiple possibilities of travel locations within the state. Everyone will be looking at safety as a priority.”
Commenting on Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah’s recent statement that the tourism bubble initiative could be implemented in Sarawak, Teo noted that such a travel bubble would be subject to the Sarawak Health Department’s (JKNS) risk assessment and the number of Covid-19 cases.
He pointed out that over the past number of days, the daily number of Covid-19 cases reported in Sarawak was among the highest in Malaysia.
With regard to opening up for tourism, he said the Sarawak government would need to come up with clear and precise standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all to follow accordingly in order to minimise the risk of Covid-19 outbreaks.
“These SOPs must be adhered to strictly by all local operators including tourists, tour agencies, transport operators, hotels, and more.”
Firstly, he suggested for the tourism bubble initiative to be available only for fully vaccinated individuals who had received both doses of the vaccine for at least 14 days.
“It is advisable that only children who are fully vaccinated for at least 14 days can travel.
“Police travelling certificates may still be required. However, we will expect that travellers be required only to flash their Covid-19 vaccine e-certificate whenever stopped by authorities.”
Teo added that flights, buses, and vans should be allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity with limited frequencies per day.
“Only hotels that are MySAFE certified should be allowed to operate. For this, we will still have to wait for the local authority to see how this can be implemented.
“All businesses should be allowed to operate with the exception of pubs and nightclubs, while large-scale business events such as conferences, meetings, and exhibitions may be able to operate at 50 per cent capacity.”
On another note, he said that tourism-related industry players would have to get their products ready by the time the state opens up for travel.
“Hotels, motels, or inns need to be prepared; car rental or transport companies need to renew their road tax; places of interests, shopping centres, eateries, and travel agencies, need to get ready for opening up.”
At the same time, he said the opening of businesses was essentially important for all to try to slowly earn back their livelihoods.
“Only after businesses resume can people save some extra money for rainy days, and only with that can they have extra to go for holidays.”
