THE travel industry is built on perception. Studies have shown that tourist perception outweighs other factors for a healthy tourism industry, ranging from political stability, socioeconomic climate and other attractive features. As the battle-weary world prepares to get back on its feet following the months-long battle with the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries discover that trust has now been replaced by fear and death.
From Langkawi to London, Rembau to Rome, global tourism has taken a hard beating. The United Nations World Travel Organisation estimated that global international tourist arrivals this year could fall by 20 to 30 per cent compared with last year, with a loss of between US$30 billion and US$50 billion. And that's just a start.
As we move cautiously forward, a new "currency" has emerged. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday said: "Trust is the new currency of our 'new normal'. And tourism is ideally positioned to be the vehicle to channel trust." While we welcome trust and tourism in the post-pandemic world with social distancing arms, we have to find ways to restore trust and rebuild confidence of the people.
Since the start of the pandemic, the country has suffered losses of RM9 billion from tourism receipts, not to mention massive job losses with hotels closed and businesses folded. The year 2020 was supposed to be Visit Malaysia Year. Malaysia will never get it back, but we can emerge stronger by resetting the way we approach this economic sector. On the heels of the new normal, we must rekindle trust in a different way. And it begins at home with domestic tourism.
A survey of 402 Malaysian hotels nationwide by the Malaysian Association of Hotels last month found that domestic tourists made up 55 per cent of Malaysia's tourism market, with the remaining 45 per cent from international visitors.
The government's announcement for domestic tourism to resume from June 10, paving the way for the country to accelerate its economic recovery phase, is a clarion call for new measures and initiatives to be in place. Only after reassuring Malaysians that it is safe to spend holidays in their own country can we proceed to restore the trust of international travellers to return.
A survey by Tourism Malaysia found that 71.3 per cent of respondents preferred domestic tourism instead of international destinations after the Movement Control Order. Additionally, 50.9 per cent of respondents believed that domestic tourism was safer, with 84.2 per cent saying that Covid-19 had affected their decisions on travel destinations.
This new perception of trust requires accompanying updates of tourism products, repackaged and revitalised to meet the new changes in market demands. This is where the digital platform plays a bigger role in marketing and promotional activities.
While we applaud the reactivation of Cuti-Cuti Malaysia by the relevant authorities, we also laud plans to welcome travellers from countries identified as "green zones" by the World Health Organisation as a measure for a soft-landing approach to a full border opening in the future.
Such conditional movements of people across borders, dubbed "travel bubble", have been implemented between New Zealand and Australia; Singapore and China; as well as Denmark and Norway. Malaysia can lead the way for countries in the region. First, we need to rebuild trust.