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PETALING JAYA: The long-awaited travel bubbles to help revive tourism may have already burst before they took shape.
Actors in the travel business have resigned themselves to the fact that attempts to facilitate travel are still a long way off. Health experts have warned against promoting travel and tourism before the latest surge in Covid-19 infections is fully contained.
The secretary general of the Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Matta), Nigel Wong, acknowledged that any changes will depend on how well the spread of the virus can be stopped.
“We have been pushing for the travel bubble for some time now, but it looks like it still won’t happen for a while,” he told the Sun yesterday.
Wong insisted that leisure travel should be allowed under a proposal to create travel bubbles between cities rather than countries.
Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) President Uzaidi Udanis said Singapore visitors are important to Malaysia’s tourism industry.
“Last year, almost eight million Singaporeans visited Malaysia. However, under the Reciprocal Green Lane and Periódic Commuting Arrangement initiatives now in place, only essential travel is allowed for Singaporeans. Business and leisure travel are still prohibited. “
He agreed that given the current severity of the Covid-19 outbreak, tourism industry players should learn to live with the new reality.
Adjunct Professor Dr. Malina Osman from Universiti Putra Malaysia said that in the current situation, any move to have travel bubbles should be postponed.
“The government can reconsider this plan once we have overcome the current crisis,” said the tropical health epidemiologist.
Virologist Professor Dr Sandy Loh from the University of Nottingham Malaysia said that travel bubbles should not be implemented now as the pandemic has yet to subside.
There are not many promising Asean countries in the “green zone”. Nations like Indonesia have reported alarming figures, indicating that they have not effectively managed the spread of Covid-19, he said.
“Many countries are going through a second and third wave of this pandemic just like we are, and asymptomatic and presymptomatic cases account for around 50% of infections. They can transmit the virus to other people for a long time, even longer than 14 days.
Asymptomatic carriers entering our country may cause an increase in cases, he said.
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