AFTER more than six months of border closure and a ban on inter-district travel that have left Sarawak’s tour and travel industry “dead”, operators reacted with caution to the loosening of travel restrictions.

They said they were wary of the Covid-19 epidemic surging once more with the curbs lifted.

The new standard operating procedure (SOP) the state rolled out yesterday upon progressing to phase three of the national recovery plan (NRP), does not apply to districts in the southern parts of the state – Lundu, Bau, Kuching, Serian, Tebedu, Samarahan, Asajaya and Simunjan – which are hard hit by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The two rules for one state have irked Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Karim Hamzah.

Moreover, the relaxations are only for selected activities and groups of people.

Last week, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that married couples, if both are fully vaccinated, are allowed to travel inter-district and interstate to meet.

Likewise, parents who are fully vaccinated can do the same to meet their children who are below 18-years old.

Under Sarawak’s phase 3 SOP,  zoos, farms, aquariums, “edutainment” outlets, recreational and adventure parks, extreme/adventure/nature parks can reopen.

Art and cultural centres , such as museums, libraries, galleries and theme villages are also allowed to reopen but they are limited to filling half the capacity of their premises or a maximum of 100 persons.

Inter-district travel, other than for spousal visits, emergencies and work duties, are still not allowed unless one has a police permit.

‘Sia Sitok is dead’

That is not doing the Sia Sitok Sarawak intra-state tour programme any good, Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) chairman Audrey Wan Ullok told The Malaysian Insight.

The programme is a collaboration between the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and STF - a consortium of licensed tour agencies and inbound tour operators in Sarawak.

It was introduced in the middle of last year to encourage travel within the state after Sarawak ordered its borders closed to protect itself from the pandemic that was sweeping the world.

“Sia Sitok is dead,” Ullok declared.

She said the short-term forecast for the tour and travel industry is not very encouraging.

Ullok, who manages her family-run hotel, Telang Usan in Kuching, said many in the industry are just hanging on.

“Tourism is the first to sink and the last to float, if indeed we can survive.”

To keep her business afloat, Ullok had registered the hotel as a quarantine centre.

“Otherwise, we would have been long gone,” she said.

Other industry players have also adapted or reinvented themselves to ride out the downturn.

One such player is Dicky Lee Moh Hui who provides training for the hospitality industry, said he sees “the light flickering at the end of the tunnel”.

A Human Resources Ministry certified train-the-trainer, Lee said training could not be done due to the ban on holding seminars, workshops and training courses.

The lifting of the ban in the state’s new phase three NRP SOP has given him fresh hope.

“I have a Japanese restaurant eager to get their staff trained as soon as possible,” Lee said.

“They have given their commitment and even paid the deposit to start training once restrictions are lifted.”

Lee said he could not conduct the training when business was bad due to the ban on dine-ins.

Lee said he is hoping for business from restaurants and hotel that plan to utilise the levy they had contributed to the Human Resource Development Fund to train and reskill their staff.

Once the restrictions are lifted, companies would be rushing to utilise the training levy they had paid it expired, he said.

Malaysian Association of Hotels Sarawak Chapter chairman John Teo said Muhyiddin’s announcement to allow fully vaccinated individuals to stay at hotels is one step toward reviving the state’s tourism industry.

“Good news,” he declared.

Still, the majority of players n the industry are not optimistic of a quick turnaround.

In Ullok’s words: “We’ll just have to hang on”. – August 16, 2021.