New life for Langkawi tourism, says Nancy Shukri

Monday, June 21, 2021

From the time, Covid-19 has hit the world, the crystal-clear waters and sandy beaches of Langkawi have been out of bounds to many tourists, and however, as early as September, things could change for good.

The island of Langkawi, under an aggressive plan by the tourism, arts, and culture ministry (Motac), could open its international as well as domestic doors to the local and foreign tourists in less than three months.

The development of a ‘green bubble’ on the picturesque island with 110,000 residents by speeding up the vaccination process to make sure 80% of the population is vaccinated so that herd immunity can be achieved is in the proposed plan.

To quote Nancy Shukri, tourism, arts, and culture minister, “Langkawi will serve as the destination for the first green bubble, but the good news, for tourism industry players nationwide – from hoteliers, to tour operators, to traders, and tour guides – is that many more green bubbles will be created.”

She also explained that Langkawi was the perfect pilot area. It’s isolated, with minimal population. Also, it has a single entry and exit point in the form of Langkawi international airport.

“It will not only allow us to reactivate the tourism industry there, but also allow us to see how our efforts can be improved in other green bubbles from Penang to Kuching.”

Green bubbles, which lets travel between states with less than 40 active Covid-19 cases, were put in place previously but were closed after increase in cases.

The tourism green bubbles this time will refer to tourist destinations where herd immunity has been achieved.

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