Consider Health Protocol Before Opening Borders - Official

KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 (Bernama) -- While waiting for their borders to open, ASEAN countries should work towards restoring mobility and designing health protocol by considering the entire tourism value chain. Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) secretary-general, Dr Noor Zari Hamat said Friday this includes border management, air travel, hospitality, tour operators and travel agencies, meeting and events, attractions and theme parks as well as destination planning and management. He said the ASEAN National Tourist Organisation (NTOs) should also emphasise on the need to equip ASEAN industry players especially among the small and medium enterprises with the necessary skills and knowledge of the new normals. “While the technicality on the safety protocols has been developed by the respective ASEAN sectoral bodies, I think the ASEAN NTOs should move towards strengthening partnerships with their private sectors in order to stimulate demand of the tourism industry through strategic marketing and promotional efforts through digital platforms. “Now everybody is talking about the new normal, the tourism industry also must think about the new normals especially in their daily business operation of hotels and resorts, team parks, shopping malls, conferences and exhibitions, and other tourist attractions. This has and will be done through various platforms such as webinars, virtual conferences, and also online training,” he said. Noor Zari was speaking at a live streaming session with Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA) members entittled “Way Forward for TOURISM in ASEAN Live Talk “ Friday. Besides that Noor Zari said the ASEAN NTOs are currently formulating the new ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy which he believed would chart the way forward and drive the marketing and promotional activities for ASEAN for the next five years starting 2021 to 2025. He said the new ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy has taken into account on restoring travel confidence and encouraging safe travellers. “We are aware that tourism promotional efforts are being actively carried out through online and social media platforms to stimulate demands to travel within ASEAN, especially among ASEAN youth travellers who are eager to start traveling with the regional destinations as their first choice. He also suggested ASEAN countries discuss further the concept of the ‘travel bubbles’ by starting its pilot project once the international borders between Malaysia and the respective countries are open as it might help the growth of the industry. Noor Zari said the intra-ASEAN market is one of the keys for the survival and sustainability of ASEAN tourism industry as it contributes more than 40 per cent to the total international tourist arrivals to ASEAN in 2019. -- BERNAMA