KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia recorded the biggest growth in the domestic tourism market among Asean countries in the second half of last year (H2 2020), when lockdowns were lifted.
Agoda corporate development vice-president Tim Hughes said when Malaysia opened its tourism sector in H2 2020, the country recorded the highest ever growth in its domestic tourism market.
“Despite an enormous drop in bookings (in all countries), the desire for Malaysians to travel is crystal clear across all regions of the country, and we saw… destinations that have never made it on our Top 10 before, made it onto that list.”
He said consumer demand for travel is absolute, and the company has been focusing on developing flexible products to cater to the domestic market.
This includes recruiting young talent, and providing training and retention programme for engineers in Thailand, while working at a faster pace to test its new processes and products on its platforms using data analysis.
While Hughes is certain on the outlook for domestic and leisure travel, he said the same cannot be said of business travel, as costs in this segment are higher.
Central Plaza Hotel PLC deputy chief executive officer Markland Blaiklock said the group, which owns 51% of a hotel chain in Thailand, has remained committed to reopening its hotels in Bangkok, Koh Samui and Phuket.
Before opening Phuket for inoculated tourists on July 1, he said the Thai government had ensured proper preparations, which led to higher motivation among employees in the industry.
“It has been encouraging. The protocols placed by the government, and ensure they are enforced, is a fulfilling commitment you give to your guests in providing a safe environment.”
Nonetheless, he noted that it will be inevitable for foreign tourists to be infected with Covid-19.
“This is why (it is) important to immediately isolate the identified person. But this should not deter the industry from operating.”
While stressing that Asean tourism is not “dead”, Blaiklock hoped that Malaysia can develop and implement a similar move to quickly revive the tourism sector, by focusing first on main foreign tourist attractions, including Penang, Melaka and Sabah.
On a similar note, the Philippines’ Tourism Department tourism development undersecretary, Benito C Bengzon Jr, said as Covid-19 cases are bound to happen, governments need to ensure the necessary medical attention is given a priority, besides isolation for the affected traveller.
Although international borders are still closed in the Phillippines, he said the government is slowly helping the sector recover by focusing on domestic tourism, while pushing for high herd immunity.
“We have a large base of domestic travellers, where 110 million domestic trips were generated before the pandemic.
“We hope domestic tourism will keep enterprises afloat and operating, and ultimately bring back livelihoods, especially at the community level.” – Bernama, July 9, 2021
