KUALA LUMPUR: Travellers from China should be subjected to stricter standard operating procedures (SOP) instead of being banned from entering the country.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Uzaidi Udanis said China was an important market for tourism and any suspension of entry would negatively affect the industry.
He said this in response to calls by Pas and the Malaysia Tourism Agency Association to temporarily halt the entry of travellers from China due to a spike in Covid-19 cases there.
Uzaidi said Thailand was expecting "millions of tourists in the first quarter of this year" while Singapore had resumed direct flights to China.
Malaysia, he said, had received over 100,000 tourists from China between April, when borders were opened, and September last year.
"They ranged from businessmen and students to tourists. China is an important market for us as they have the spending power," FMT quoted him as saying.
Uzaidi said tightening SOP would stop Covid-19 from spreading and it would be crucial for all to understand these requirements, he said.
"In the past, many were unclear about the SOP. For instance, when tourists arrived at the airport, they were confused. So, our frontliners have to be very clear about the SOP."
The health ministry had earlier announced that visitors to Malaysia would have to undergo temperature checks for fever.
The latest Covid-19 variant – a sub-variant of Omicron named BF.7 – is believed to be causing the infection surge in China.