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PETALING JAYA: The government is unlikely to choose to selectively reopen the border to help revive the tourism industry, according to Sarawak Tourism Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Commenting on Thailand’s move to allow foreign tourists to enter selected areas, Karim told the FMT that he believed the Malaysian government was more concerned with the safety of citizens than with attracting tourist dollars.
Thailand is believed to initiate a travel plan on October 1 that will allow people from low-risk Covid-19 areas to travel to their tourist destinations.
Initially, only the island of Phuket will be opened to foreign tourists as part of a pilot project. Tourists will have to spend 14 days in quarantine before they are allowed to travel around the island.
Those who complete three weeks in Phuket and test negative for Covid-19 will be able to travel to other parts of Thailand.
“Malaysia, especially Sarawak, is strict on the movement of visitors, especially foreigners,” Karim said.
“The safety of citizens is more important and we prefer to wait until the virus subsides before reopening the borders.”
Malaysia Hotel Association President Mohamad Halim Merican said it would be difficult for Malaysia to adopt a similar scheme to Thailand because the two countries have different tourism profiles.
He said spending 14 days in quarantine would not be a problem for visitors to Phuket, as it was normal for tourists to stay on the island for months.
He also said that reopening the borders amid the pandemic would require a lot of internal controls.
“Any influx of foreign tourists will definitely help the economic recovery. However, it can also mean that more control is required. And the most recent Covid-19 cases are imported.
“It is difficult to control tourists who are not sensitive to the situation and the safety of others,” he said.
