KUALA LUMPUR – Singaporean visitors to Malaysia in 2020 dropped by 84.4%, down to 1.5 million tourists from 10.1 million tourists prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Abd Latiff Ahmad said in a parliamentary written reply that as a result of this, Malaysia also suffered a steep reduction in tourist dollars.
“The number decreased by a staggering percentage of 84.8% in 2020, from 10.1 million tourists to 1.5 million tourists.
“The lack of tourists has also affected the amount of tourist expenditure in Malaysia. A loss of 86.8%, from RM20.5 billion to RM2.7 billion, was seen last year,” said Latiff in his reply to a query by Pang Hok Liong (Labis-PH).
Latiff added that there had only been a total of 1,591 tourists from Singapore within a span of six months between January to June 2021.
He said that the Foreign Affairs Ministry is currently collaborating with the Health Ministry and the Johor government to plan with the Singapore government on the standard operating procedures to be implemented for the fully vaccinated.
There have also been discussions on opening a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) by which tourists will be able to travel to Malaysia via flights to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and on land through the Johor-Singapore Causeway.
The VTL will be implemented on November 29.
Earlier this year, reciprocal green lane arrangements between Singapore and Malaysia were suspended due to the spike of Covid-19 cases in Malaysia and the emergence of new variants.
Malaysia also saw its highest increase in Covid-19 cases at that time. – The Vibes, November 17, 2021
