PREPARATIONS are in full swing for the Langkawi tourism bubble, which will begin on September 16 despite a lack of guidelines from the National Security Council on the reopening, business owners say.

Tourism players on the island said they will be adopting current Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) as they believe an island-specific SOP will not be vastly different than what is already in place.

Alexander Issac, the owner of Tropical Charters Sdn Bhd, said current restrictions are already quite strict.

“The NSC’s main SOP are already in place and we have implemented them. They can only add a few things,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

On September 9, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) said fully vaccinated domestic tourists from all over the country, with the exception of those residing in areas under the enhanced movement control order, will be allowed to travel to the island.
 
Visitors would have to apply for police permits before their departure and show the necessary documents such as flight tickets, ferry tickets or hotel reservation receipts as proof.
 
Those travelling by road would need to use the services of a travel agency, at least for transport from the starting destination to the ferry jetty which will take them to Langkawi.

Though the government does not require visitors to be tested before travelling to Langkawi, Isaac said he has included an RTK-antigen test in his tour packages.
 
“This test must be taken upon arrival. What’s important is to make tourists feel safe to travel here,” he said.

Issac said a major clean-up has also been taking place on Chenang beach which has not opened for business for more than 20 months.
 
“Chenang was a ghost town. Volunteers from the local council, navy and PDRM took part in the clean-up. It was a community affair,” he said.
 
His company, which runs sunset cruises and island-hopping activities, among others, has received a lot of enquiries since the announcement of the tourism bubble. 
 
“There were many enquiries from the Klang Valley. Out of about 100 enquiries received, about 20 confirmed their booking for September. This is revenge tourism. People are keen to travel,” he said.

Langkawi Development Authority chief executive officer Nasaruddin Abdul Mutalib had previously told The Malaysian Insight that he expected the NSC to announce the SOP for the island by September 10. But it is yet to be released.

Current SOP as guide
 
T. Karina Tunku Shamsul Bahrin, owner of La Pari Pari resort in Langkawi, said she has turned to the SOP implemented by the Malaysian Association of Hotels in preparation for the opening.
 
“The hospitality industry has been pushing for specific SOP. In the meantime, we are turning to the current SOP,” she said.
 
Karina’s resort, which has 12 rooms, has five employees. All of them have been fully vaccinated.
 
“So far we have two bookings. Our restaurant capacity has been halved so we can accommodate only 30 diners indoors and 10 others outdoors. We will continue sanitising the place and ensure that masks are worn and temperature checked.”
 
She too agreed that when the NSC finally releases the SOP for Langkawi, it will not be too different.
 
“Personally, I don’t expect it to be vastly different. After all, the people who are allowed to come will be fully vaccinated anyway. 
 
“If they impose measures at the eleventh hour that will take time to implement, I think there will be an outcry.”

No rush to open

Pishol Ishak, the chairman of the Langkawi Tourism Bureau, said some tourism operators will only begin accepting visitors in October.
 
“Some prefer to wait and see. There could be budget limitations too,” he said.
 
Pishol, who runs a tour agency, said that like them, he is only taking bookings for October.
 
“I don’t want hassles. We will wait. At the moment, for October, our booking is at 20% capacity.”
 
Uzaidi Udanis, president of Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, said some members are taking out loans to fund the reopening.
 
“Many are doing so as they had run out of money. Preparation for the opening costs money. We don’t want to offer tourists sub-par service,” he said.
 
Udanis said that with Langkawi on the path to reopening, the same thing should be done in Pulau Tioman and Pulau Redang.
 
“The monsoon season is coming to the east coast soon. The government should consider expanding the Langkawi model to these islands. Otherwise they will only be able to reopen in March next year and they won’t have any income until then.” – September 12, 2021.