My appreciation to our media friends from New Sarawak Tribune who had interviewed me on my thoughts on the sweeping Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe, impacting human lives, shuttering businesses and impeding economic growth.
But of course it is the global tourism industry which is one of the hardest hit sectors as nations have closed their borders and people are apprehensive about venturing out in these uncertain times. In fact, the World Travel and Tourism Council has estimated that almost 200 million jobs could be lost in the global travel and tourism sector as a result of the restrictions put in place due to the pandemic.
Sarawak itself has suffered a drastic drop in tourist arrivals and tourism receipts, with numerous tourism-related sectors experiencing millions in losses during this period. These are the excerpts from the interview we had recently.
New Sarawak Tribune: When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, what was your first thought?
Abdul Karim: At first, I felt that it was possible that this pandemic would not arrive in our country and our state. But when it started to spread from China to Europe and so on, and when the first case in Malaysia was reported earlier this year, we knew that it would strike and affect all industries here.
When it began to spread in March, the situation became even more dangerous and the tourism industry was among the most affected.
As the minister in charge of tourism in Sarawak, I can definitely feel its impact as we are always engaging the tourism industry players.
In terms of our numbers, throughout 2019, Sarawak received 4.66 million visitors with our tourism receipts amounting to RM11.57 billion. This contributed 8.72 percent to Sarawak’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Compared to 2018, there was an increase of 5.22 percent in tourist arrivals in 2019. Unfortunately, this year, the number of tourists to Sarawak has decreased drastically. From January to September, we received 1,155,754 visitors. This is a drop of 65.67 percent compared to the same period last year when we received 3,366,922. That is a significant difference.
How have the industry players been affected?
All tourism sectors are badly affected by the pandemic. For instance, travel and tour agencies have experienced RM108 million in losses, affecting 1,728 jobs including 216 licensed travel agents. Tourist guides or national park tour guides have suffered a loss of RM15 million.
The hotel industry is among the most impacted, with losses amounting to RM60 million. This involves 6,889 employees and 22,061 hotel rooms. Also affected is the food and beverage (F&B) industry. When the restaurants were directed to close by authorities such as the Health Ministry, this resulted in losses of around RM82 million.
Sarawak’s handicraft and souvenir industry has also felt the effects of the pandemic as these are all interrelated. When tourists do not come in, this industry is hindered. It has experienced a loss of RM12 million, involving 920 people who are registered under the Sarawak Craft Council (SCC).
Apart from that, the industry related to meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) or business events is also severely impacted as many of these events cannot be carried out now. Indeed, the pandemic has brought a tremendous negative effect to our tourism industry.
What measures have the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the state government as a whole taken to help tourism industry players during these trying times?
A lot has been done to help them; the Sarawak government is very concerned about the problems faced by the people and has the economic strength to help.
The state government has introduced various programmes and initiatives to help the people in general as well, not just those in the tourism industry. Ampng them were the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 1.0, BKSS 2.0, BKSS 3.0, and also the BKSS 4.0 – these were able to help those in need.
Among those related to the tourism industry is assistance for tourist guides, national park guides, and also hotels – whereby the annual payment of hotel licensing fees has been waived for this year. Besides that, assistance has been provided for boat operators as well as taxi drivers and e-hailing operators; everyone has received some help from the state government.
The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) under my ministry has organised various packages to drive this industry and ensure its survival. During dialogue sessions with tourism industry players, we heard a lot of their problems such as the lack of visitors at this time. So we looked into how we could encourage locals to travel domestically since the borders were still closed to outsiders.
How has the response been towards these measures?
I am quite impressed to see the response so far to the Sia Sitok Sarawak programme organised by STB and my ministry. We have provided about 30 special packages for locals in Sarawak — they just have to pay for half of the original prices of these travel packages and the rest is borne by the state government.
The response towards this campaign has been great; every weekend, many local destinations are visited by the people of Sarawak. I am very happy because at least, this can help to reduce the burden of the industry players.
How long do you think it will be before Sarawak’s tourism industry recovers?
This industry needs some time before it can return to normal. Perhaps, it will need until at least the second quarter of 2021 before it can see some recovery. But it also depends on the Covid-19 developments and circumstances, as at the moment the pandemic is not over yet. If the situation worsens, then the tourism industry’s recovery will be delayed further.
What are some of the challenges in reviving the tourism industry after the pandemic?
The tourism sector will need some time to recover because it is largely dependent on people. If people are not very confident and they are apprehensive about travelling, then the industry will not be able to survive and flourish.
Many aspects need to be considered to boost the confidence of people in travelling and want to be involved in our events such as the Rainforest World Music Festival, Jazz Festival and so on. Hence, the key challenge here is how to make the people confident. This is not only a challenge for Sarawak but the whole world because people are still not confident about the safety levels of the places they want to visit.
As long as this uncertainty remains, it will be quite difficult for the industry to recover. Therefore, our role is to assuage these uncertainties and fears so that tourists want to visit Sarawak.
What is the ministry doing in this downtime when Sarawak is not receiving many tourists?
We have our brainstorming sessions and discussions with the industry players. We are holding courses which include increasing the number of tourist guides here. Sarawak only has about 100 tourist guides so we are holding these programmes in Kuching, Miri and Sibu.
We have courses on digital marketing for industry players such as travel and tour agencies. We also have courses for frontliners, community-based tourism, handicraft training, tourism product development and e-tourism which is related to responsible tourism and tourism awareness for those interested in this industry. We expect Sarawak will experience a sharp increase in visitors when the pandemic ends.
How has the response been so far?
The response we have received is very encouraging, especially among university graduates. Previously, only Form 5 or Form 6 school leavers were interested in the tourism industry. Now, many university graduates interested in the tourism sector; perhaps they see the potential of this industry.
I encourage more youth to join this industry. I would like to see around 1,000 tourist guides in Sarawak compared to 100 or so currently. Here, the government and the tourism-related agencies under it need to play their roles.
What are the roles of the tourism industry stakeholders?
The tourism industry requires both the government and private sector to play their roles. The government has the responsibility to build up the platform and manage connectivity while the private sector plays a significant role in driving the industry.
After this pandemic, I hope that these stakeholders will be more creative and innovative in organising programmes and products to attract overseas tourists. They can discuss these ideas with my ministry and STB as well. They must also have innovative ways of marketing existing products.
One of the things that tourists have complained about is the lack of tourism products here. Can you comment on this?
I do not agree with this. Sarawak is a state with many different ethnicities and cultures. We have 27 ethnicities here and each has its own culture and way of life. This can be a product in itself; many people visit just to see and experience the cultures here, the people’s ways of life and the environment.
Sarawak’s main attraction is its ecotourism. Tourists who are interested in this are those from Europe – they love to see things in their original state. Aside from that, people from countries like China love to visit to experience nature, the sea, the beaches, and there are also those with an interest in caves.
For instance, we have Mulu Cave here and we used to have many flights heading there daily. But now,there is only one due to the pandemic. These tourism products can attract those who wish to escape from the concrete jungle.
What steps has your ministry taken to promote Sarawak overseas?
At the moment, we are not able to promote Sarawak overseas due to the current circumstances. However, last year, we organised programmes to promote Sarawak.
Once Covid-19 has subsided, we will be able to promote Sarawak to China, Europe and more. I believe this will take some time as the people’s level of confidence needs to be improved first.
At this time, our promotions are more focused on the domestic market — for the people of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, as they are more in touch with the situation here. After that, our neighbours, namely Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia.
One product which heavily involves Indonesia is medical tourism; more than 40,000 patients have sought medical treatment at our private hospitals here. When they visit, their family members come along as well and this has a three- or four-fold effect, a chain reaction.
What languages are needed in Sarawak’s tourism industry?
English is a universal language. Any visitor, whether they are from Europe or elsewhere, would usually do some research first before they visit – and this includes looking into whether the people here can speak English or not. If many of the people here cannot speak English, these tourists may not want to come.
Besides English, Mandarin is important as well because China’s economy and population are growing.
Prior to Covid-19, most of our tourists were from neighbouring countries, namely Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia. There was no problem with that because our languages are similar — the Nusantara languages. After the pandemic, I believe many tourists from China, Europe, Oceania, and other regions will visit Sarawak.
What are your hopes for tourism when the pandemic ends?
I hope consumer confidence in travel will be restored and that people will venture out and travel not only to Malaysia but also all over the world. I hope they would want to visit and experience an environment that is different from what they have in their home countries.
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