KUALA LUMPUR: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry will assess the reopening of Langkawi for foreign tourists from next month before proposing a similar move nationwide, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the ministry would be observing the implementation of the Langkawi international tourism bubble (for inbound travels) for three months before it could be implemented in other tourist sites.
"While we have set a three-month observation period (on foreign tourist arrivals in Langkawi), we may reopen other areas earlier, maybe December.
"However, this (reopening of other areas for foreign tourists) is not a guarantee as it would depend on the success (of the pilot project)," she said in reply to a supplementary question from M. Karupaiya (PH-Padang Serai).
Nancy said strict Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) compliance would be enforced to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among the locals and tourists.
She said the ministry was in the final phase of its preparations for foreign tourist arrivals from Nov 15.
She said the Langkawi international tourism bubble would be the gauge in considering other potential destinations for foreign tourists based on assessments by the National Security Council and Health Ministry.
The assessment report would then be brought to the Covid-19 management special committee chaired by the prime minister for further consideration.
Earlier, she said Langkawi, which was the pilot project for the domestic travel bubble, saw the arrival of over 100,000 domestic tourists between Sept 15 and Oct 16.
"As interstate travel was allowed (for fully vaccinated individuals from Oct 11), the domestic travel bubble was no longer necessary," she said in reply to a question from Yusuf Abd Wahab (GPS-Tanjong Manis).
Nancy said the revival of tourism activities had a positive impact on not only tour business entities, but also other chain sectors that brought improvements to the local community.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in announcing the move recently, said no quarantine conditions would be imposed, while tourists would have to stay for at least three days and undergo Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests under the pilot project.
Individuals staying for more than five days are required to undergo Covid-19 test on the fifth day and all costs to be borne by themselves.
In addition, each tourist must have minimum insurance coverage of US$80,000 (RM320,000), use a tourism service licensed under by the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and have a passport, visa, health declaration form and letter of undertaking and indemnity.
The documents need to be uploaded and registered with the MySejahtera application prior to travelling.