THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) is sceptical about the green travel bubble to revive the tourism industry with several states still under the conditional movement control order (CMCO), reports New Sunday Times.

this was because most tourists were from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

“The source market for domestic tourism comes from Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. With both under the movement control order, it will do little to revive the sector,” Matta president Tan Kok Liang said.

“Domestic intrastate travel will do little to boost tourism as locals are too familiar with their own products,” he told the paper.

On Friday, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said to revive domestic tourism Putrajaya has approved the green travel bubble programme, which allows people from green zones to visit other zones marked green.

The minister said the decision was made after studying the current scenario of the tourism industry.

Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya are still under CMCO restrictions until December 6.

Malaysian Association of Hotels chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng said they welcomed the move and were excited to reopen domestic tourism between green zones.

However, he said there was a need for clarity in terms of SOP for such travel.

Yap said the industry was also eager to offer more deals and special packages for local travellers during this period.

“Although it will not be sufficient to cushion the losses incurred particularly during the pandemic’s third wave, with average occupancy dropping below 20%, the industry hopes for a lifeline and, at the very minimum, to pay the salaries of employees to avoid further job losses,” he said.

Malaysia Tourism Council president Uzaidi Udanis hoped the government can channel immediate assistance to tourism players.

“I hope the government will also provide funds through the Tourism Recovery Plan this year, while waiting for the RM200 million funding to be rolled out under Budget 2021.”

He said the sector suffered RM45 billion in losses in the first six months of the year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. – November 22, 2020.