PETALING JAYA: Despite their wish for the country’s borders to reopen on March 1, tourism players are still concerned about the spread of the Covid-19 virus across the country.

       Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association president Paul Paw said although tourism players welcome the recommendation to open Malaysian borders on March 1, concerns over increasing Covid-19 cases are still on everyone’s minds.

       “The cases have been soaring these past couple of days and it may reach 18,000 a day.

       “The Omicron variant spreads really fast and it has already affected many people as well as businesses. Many restaurant table bookings have been cancelled.

       “So when they do open on March 1, it will be good for the tourism business which is on the brink of collapsing.

       “I hope people follow the standard operating procedures (SOP),” he said when contacted.

       Paw said the authorities should ensure that only vaccinated people are allowed to enter the country.

       The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang welcomes the National Recovery Council’s (NRC) proposal on the reopening of international borders from March 1.

       “This is definitely a positive step moving forward, taking into consideration our nation’s move towards endemicity, our high vaccination rates and the capability of our public health infrastructure in managing this health crisis.

       “As proven the world over, the containment of Covid-19 goes beyond lockdowns, movement control orders (MCO) and extreme mobility restrictions.

       “A holistic approach taking into consideration economic activities for the well-being of the people must now be a priority,” he said.

       Tan said MATTA had earlier urged the government to revamp its current policies, its overly cautious quarantine rules and testing procedures which should be based on mortality rates and the category of infection levels (1 to 5).

       “Repeating the same approach from 23 months ago and expecting progress is simply not producing good results.

       “We cannot keep maintaining the current approach. The tourism industry is now moving into its third year of financial distress without any clear roadmap implementation by the government,” he said, adding that the industry had contributed RM89.4bil in foreign tourism receipts.

       He also said that more countries have begun to open their borders without stringent quarantine rules.

       “Malaysia needs to follow suit and reopen our international borders, not only for the sake of the tourism sector alone, but for the many other related sectors that stand to benefit from such a move,” said Tan.

       Malaysian Indian Tour & Travel Association (Mitta) deputy president Datuk Aruldass Arulandu said a concerted effort from everyone, including the authorities, theme park, restaurant and hotel operators must be carried out to ensure that people follow the SOP.

       “The proper guidelines should be in place and people need to follow them to ensure we can control the spread of the virus.

       “Six months down the road, people will eventually get used to it,” he added.

       He also said these guidelines cannot be imposed frequently on tourists because if they have to keep testing often, this will cause inflation on the cost of travelling.

       “So we have to find a way to not disrupt them and at the same time make sure only vaccinated people are allowed to enter and leave the country,” he said.

       Yesterday, the NRC recommended that the country’s international borders be fully reopened by March 1 without mandatory quarantine.

       However, NRC chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said visitors should undergo Covid-19 tests prior to and right after arriving in the country, as recommended by the Health Ministry.