KOTA KINABALU: The implementation of the air and land vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between Malaysia and Brunei will give a ray of hope to neighbouring Sabah to rejuvenate its ailing tourism industry.
Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) chairman Datuk Seri Winston Liaw said the VTL could also help reunite separated families due to the then Movement Control Order (MCO).
"The VTL will also open up the business channel and trading for the small and medium enterprises (SME) and therefore, enhance economy of the two countries," said Liaw in welcoming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and the Sultan of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on reaching an agreement to implement the VTL.
The consensus would also see the revival the economic sector as well as recognition of MySejahtera and BruHealth applications in both countries.
Liaw also urged the prime minister to visit China where he said a policy similar to VTL could be implemented to help save thousands of entrepreneurs from bankruptcy.
He suggested for Bruneians to travel to Kuala Lumpur via Sabah which in turn could help boost the latter's tourism industry and urged Ismail Sabri to reopen the international borders by early March as proposed by National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Liaw also suggested for Malaysia to move into the endemic phase in order to save the tourism businesses in view of the 99.95 percent of Covid-19 positive cases reported nationwide were of mild and asymptomatic nature.
"I also urge all banks and financial institutions to help ease all tourism Industry players for their loan repayments in order to achieve a win-win situation and save the country's economy.
"Even if the country is declared endemic by next month, the tourism industry still needs at least one year to recover."
Sabah Tourist Association (STA) chairman Tonny Chew in echoing Satta's suggestion, said the delay in opening the international borders would inevitably dampen the survival of many tourism stakeholders.
"We need a clear roadmap for the reopening of borders in order for the stakeholders to reposition and to re-plan their marketing strategies."
In the meantime, he said it is essential to establish more destinations with other low risk countries based on the existing successful implementation of travel bubble and VTL, pending the total reopening of borders.
The Malaysian Association of Hotels Sabah and Labuan (MAH) chairman Hafizan Wong said the hospitality sector fully supports the NRC's recommendation to open the country international borders by March 1.
"Although domestic travel has given us some leeway in tourism activities, hotels, travel agencies and tourism related sectors are still having a difficult time to make ends meet as the traffic volume is very minimal."
On the VTL between Malaysia and Brunei, he said Bruneians had always been a good contributor to Sabah's hotel industry, especially due to the ease of land travel.
"The average nights stay in Sabah is also very good as they tend to stay longer due to the travelling distance thereby generating more revenue for us," said Wong.
However, he said MAH was still waiting for an official announcement by the Sabah government on allowing the VTL between Brunei and Sabah.