KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) plans to complete the guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) for the proposed travel bubbles with selected countries by next week.
Its Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said it would then be submitted for evaluation by the National Security Council (NSC).
"MOTAC has been tasked by the government to put forward our proposals for the SOP. We are talking to the ambassadors, listening to them. They also want to know what is our plan. We have been talking to Japan, Singapore … this is going to be a continuous initiative from our side," she said when asked about the implementation of the travel bubbles.
She said this at a press conference after launching the 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia TV Promotional Campaign' and announcing the winners of the 'Cuti-cuti at Home Music Video Competition' here today.
According to Nancy, MOTAC was also collaborating with other ministries, such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to prepare the SOP.
Earlier, Nancy said in her speech that judging by the Domestic Tourism Promotion Travel Series, she found that domestic tourism had received encouraging response from the public.
"I am happy to see people's support towards domestic tourism where many hotels are also fully booked, with many people going out with their families during weekends," she said.
She said from a survey of 13,797 individuals in the country on the people's perception about traveling after the Movement Control Order (MCO), domestic tourism was still preferred when 50.9 per cent of the respondents said they believed that traveling within the country was safer after the MCO.
In addition, 71.3 per cent of the respondents picked Malaysia as a safer tourism destination compared to other countries, she said.
Nancy said continuous promotion was needed to sustain people's interest in traveling.
Five promotional videos were produced on several tourism themes and products, including islands and beaches, deep-sea diving and snorkelling, nature and adventure, local food and thematics.
Apart from TV1, TV2 and TV OKEY channels, the promotions are also uploaded on digital platforms. – Bernama