A shop employee taking the body temperature of a patron at
Sunway Velocity Mall in Kuala Lumpur. -NSTP/SAIFULLIZAN TAMADI
KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism industry players are
pinning their hopes on 2021, and the reopening of international borders tops
their wish list.
But while waiting for that to happen, they are eager to
make the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry's domestic travel bubble initiative
a success.
Sunway Malls and Theme Parks is hoping to cash in on the
year-end festive season and school holidays to kick-start the 2021 financial
year.
Chief executive officer H.C. Chan said targeting domestic
travellers during this period could revive the industry while waiting for the
international borders to reopen.
"We foresee some business recovery with the festive season
and school holidays this year, and perhaps again at the beginning of next year
for the Lunar New Year.
"We hope to see a V-shaped recovery in
the fourth quarter of this year, similar to what we saw during the first
Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
"From there, we expect the recovery to be slow,
gradual and protracted in the first half of next year. With the introduction of
the vaccines, we expect the recovery to reach 90 per cent of normalcy in the
second half of 2021.
"Our footfall and sales hit a normalisation rate of
around 50 to 60 per cent across our malls in the first week of this month.
"We are expecting a better performance by our malls
as the CMCO restrictions are gradually eased," he told the New
Straits Times.
Reflecting on 2020, Chan said the tourism industry must
maintain "gold standards" of safety, health and hygiene to survive
potential outbreaks.
"For Sunway Malls and Theme Parks, these three
aspects have always been a priority.
"Hence, we were quick to roll out safety and hygiene
measures with our partners, increasing the frequency of sanitisation operations
and installing thermal scanners during the first round of the MCO in
March."
Meanwhile, Genting Malaysia said the completion of its
outdoor theme park, Genting Skyworlds, will be its top priority next year.
The theme park, targeted to open in mid-2021, will house
international-class movie-themed attractions and feature, among others, movies
from 20th Century Fox.
"The implementation of the CMCO in a majority of the
states in Malaysia has affected our business this year.
"However, we have re-engineered our processes to
create a safe environment for all our visitors, employees, business partners
and the community," its spokesman said.
The aviation sector also shares similar hopes after the
pandemic kept it grounded for most of this year.
Malaysia Airlines group chief executive
officer Captain Izham Ismail said the airline would focus on three aspects in
2021: assist global vaccine distribution, reconnect global economies and
revitalise businesses to help workers.
"We will also continue to support the government's
initiatives to encourage domestic holidays and travels with ongoing promotions
while we prepare for the gradual reopening of international borders.
"We remain hopeful for the global aviation industry
to return to its pre-Covid-19 situation, faster than our prediction of recovery
in Q2 to Q3 2022 for the domestic and Asean market, with the international (or
intercontinental) market recovering in 2024."
Moving forward, Izham called on airline companies to
strive towards making the aviation industry pandemic-resilient.
"Airline companies should have better contingency plans and
establish better fences around the company to absorb shocks, and they need to
be flexible to operation changes accordingly.
"Preparing
for the digital workforce is also paramount, hence more investment in
upskilling and reskilling employees needs to run in tandem.
"The
aviation industry will prosper once again if we come out of this crisis more
prepared."
-nst online.
