Earlier today I have mentioned with our Media friends that we welcome the proposed reopening of Malaysia’s international borders by March that include non-mandatory quarantine for visitors. This will essentially hasten our National Recovery Plan (NRP) and also boost Sarawak’s Post Covid19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS2030).
The suggestions and recommendations made by National Recovery Council (NRC) augur well for the speedy recovery of Malaysia’s various economic sectors which was badly impacted by the Covid19 pandemic especially the tourism and hospitality industry.
Sarawak was not sparred and it had lost billions from revenue streams from tourism and hospitality industry which in the past years had contributed to the local economy and the livelihood of those working in the downstream industry.
What had been mentioned and suggested by NRC’s chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were welcomed by industry players all over because the positive impacts from the reopening of our borders will boost our economic recovery efforts. Our people will also gain the benefits simply because there will be jobs creation when the tourism and hospitality sector is on the rebound.
We are talking about our local folks who are looking forward to serving foreign tourists who are eager to spend their tourism dollars after years of not being able to enjoy travelling and vacationing in holiday destinations such as Sarawak and Malaysia.
Sarawak’s medical tourism industry is also set to benefit from the reopening of our borders because previously, the promising revenue stream from such sector had encouraged the establishments of private medical institutions and hospitals in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.
It is interesting to note that the Association of Private Hospital Malaysia (APHM) had recently mentioned that medical tourism in our country had contributed RM1.7 billion to the economy back in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid9 pandemic in 2020.
To facilitate the reopening of our borders, we must educate and instil awareness among potential visitors on the need to strictly adhere to all standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Sarawak’s State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) before any entry application is accepted. There must concerted efforts by the industry players concerned to ensure only fully vaccinated tourists and visitors with booster dose where the risks of Covid-19 infections are mitigated and avoided.
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