Muted response on first day of Langkawi international travel bubble

KUALA LUMPUR: Pulau Langkawi might have been reopened for international travel on Monday (Nov 15) under a travel bubble project, but foreign tourists were few and far between.

This was unlike the wave of tourists to the resort island in Kedah when a domestic travel bubble was implemented back in September.

Although the Langkawi international travel bubble was announced last month, the detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were only spelt out by the authorities on Monday.

Langkawi Development Authority’s (LADA) chief executive officer Nasaruddin Abdul Muttalib told CNA that as the SOPs have just only been issued, they can now proceed to inform their overseas agents, tourism offices as well as the airlines about the travel packages available.

Under the pilot project, all international tourists have to go through travel agents to visit the island. 

Currently, there are no direct international flights into Langkawi.  

“For this month and early December, the tourists will have to fly in through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). We are expecting the earlier direct flights only at the end of the year because there will be some planning needed,” said Mr Nasaruddin.

LADA is responsible for tourism development in Langkawi, as well as other infrastructure, industry and trade matters.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Uzaidi Udanis hoped that international tourists would start coming in by next month. 

“We are preparing and are in the marketing phase now. We are hoping to attract those who will be having winter,” he said.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced last month that Langkawi would reopen on Nov 15 to fully vaccinated international tourists, under the project which targeted fully vaccinated, and high-yield individuals.

Mr Nasaruddin of LADA said Langkawi had received 3.9 million visitors in 2019. Out of this, about 1.9 million were international tourists. 

He added that with international and domestic travel curbs due to the pandemic, the number had fallen last year, with only 1.9 million visitors for the whole of last year.

Mr Nasaruddin said that tourism contributed 80 per cent to Langkawi’s economy, with the industry employing a workforce of more than 50,000 people.

He said that prior to the pandemic, there were only a few direct international flights into Langkawi, with most tourists travelling through KLIA.

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