TOURISTS have returned to Malaysia, numbering around 40% of pre-pandemic levels, since Malaysia lifted Covid-19 restrictions last April, travel and tour industry players said.

“Recovery (of the tourism industry) is progressing pretty well,” Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association Selangor Chapter secretary Wong Lit Jer said.

“The pace is very encouraging.”

In Malaysia, as with nearly everywhere else around the world, tourism was the first among the economic sectors to sink as countries closed their borders to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Wong said as a result of returning tourists, the food and hospitality sectors have slowly recovered from the effects of the Covid outbreak, although they were hampered by a lack of workers.

“There is a serious manpower shortage in the hospitality sector, tourism attraction sites, restaurants and even administrative offices,” he said.

The shortage, he added, had made it impossible for operators to provide the level of service they did before 2020.

To cope with the lack, hotels had become innovative, Wong said, pointing to Genting First World Hotel as an example.

“The hotel is asking guests to make their own beds.”

Wong said a shortage of sales and marketing staff has also put Malaysian tour and travel companies at a disadvantage against their counterparts in other countries in the competition for tourists.

“We are likely to lose a lot of tourist dollars to others”.

One of the country’s best known tourism attractions, Cameron Highlands, is seeing half the number of visitors it did in the pre-pandemic days, Cameron Tourism Association vice chairman Cheng Nan Hong said.

He said since travel curbs worldwide were lifted, Cameron reclaimed its position of being a summer getaway for European tourists while also staying popular among locals.

Cheng said nearly 70% of the foreign tourists in Cameron Highlands are Europeans.

“We are expecting more to come flooding in from June to August during the northern hemisphere summer.”

A state that has reported a steady recovery in its tourism sector is Penang.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said tourist arrivals could surpass pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.

State Penang Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said this was due to the many international direct flights to Penang in the past year.

Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association honorary president Albert Tan said the industry is looking forward to more direct flights from China and the introduction of a visa-on-arrival facility.

Tan said direct flights between many Chinese cities and Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kota Kinabalu have yet to resume.

The lack of flights, he said, is also pushing ticket prices up.

“Chinese tourists are much sought after by the tourism industry in Southeast Asia.”

Tan said tourists these days are more interested in sea cruises.

“That’s a new trend in our tourism industry. The cruise market is responding well and the five-star cruise service package is popular among tourists. After all, the cruise package is affordable.”

Tan said he was informed a number of ships cruising Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore waters will be making port calls in Malaysia.

“A large cruise ship can carry between 2,000 and 4,000 passengers, and this will definitely be a boost to local tourism.” – April 20, 2023.