GEORGE TOWN: Tourism players from Penang, Sabah and Labuan are looking to create a consortium to take domestic tourism to the next level.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Penang chairman Vergis Mathews said all tourism players must work hand-in-hand with airlines and tourism destination owners to revive the industry, which has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We must also work closely together with the state governments to get things done as we plan to turn the industry into inbound tourism," said Vergis during a press conference after the launch of "My Destination Sabah and Labuan to Penang" here today.
The programme was officiated by Tourism Malaysia domestic and event senior director Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chief marketing officer Tay Shu Lan said the pandemic has created an opportunity for the industry to form a consortium to introduce attractive tour packages.
Tay said with international borders remaining closed for now, Penang's tour operators who before this had been promoting overseas tours can switch to selling Sabah as a destination.
"The demand for Sabah was encouraging as indicated in the increase of flight frequency by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu.
"Furthermore, from December onwards, there would be no Covid-19 swab test requirement prior to departure for fully-vaccinated visitors from the Peninsular to Sabah," she said.
Meanwhile, Iskandar said based on flight bookings recorded by the Matta Fair at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur on Nov 20 to 21, the demand for Sabah was high.
He said in order for Tourism Malaysia to stimulate the domestic markets, it has created 450 tour packages nationwide including for civil servants and retired civil servants.
"Since the onset of the pandemic, every country is creating their own domestic tourism as this is something that we can control.
"There is a lot of demand for domestic tourism for those in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor because people still cannot go abroad.
"So we are offering domestic tourism which they never thought of before the pandemic. There are many hidden gems that the people in Malaysia are unaware of," he said.
Earlier, he said there are 26 sellers from Sabah and Labuan, consisting of 23 travel agencies, the Sabah International Convention Centre, AirAsia and a resort, which had participated in business-to-business engagement to target 60 to 80 buyers from the northern region consisting of government departments and private agencies.
The programme aims to provide motivation and support for tourism industry players in Sabah and Labuan to further stimulate the revival of the domestic tourism sector.
"This is in line with the transition of Sabah and Labuan to Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan," said Iskandar.
The tour packages in the offing aim to attract the local business community to organise corporate events as well as create a network of cooperation among travel agencies and contribute to the MICE market segment, he said.
The programme was initiated by Tourism Malaysia via its Sabah office together with its strategic partners STB, Labuan Corporation, and Matta Sabah and Labuan chapters.
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