Theme park, family attraction operators make ‘passionate plea’ to reopen

 

The Malaysian Association of Theme Park & Family Attractions says 3.6 million workers are on the verge of losing their jobs. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Association of Theme Park & Family Attractions (Matfa) has made a “passionate appeal” for the reopening of the industry’s core businesses under Phase 2 of the national recovery plan.

In a letter to the prime minister, it said the current timeline of the recovery plan, when tourism sectors would only be allowed to operate in October at the earliest, “will further break the tourism industry in ways it has already broken”.

It said 3.6 million workers were on the verge of losing their livelihoods.

Matfa called for the reopening of theme parks and attractions, cinemas, family entertainment centres and spa wellness centres, together with shopping malls, resorts and hotels, under Phase 2.

It also said the government should work with the private sector to draw up a tourism recovery plan for the immediate and medium term, adopting best practices by other countries like Thailand and those in Europe.

The association proposed new metrics to gauge the pandemic situation, such as using the positivity rate, number of serious cases and ICU admissions, with mortality expressed as a number of deaths per 100,000 population.

“We need to shift away from a pandemic approach to an endemic approach, outlining a radical departure from the ‘zero-Covid’,” it said.

However, if the government still decides to keep the sectors on the negative list, it said, adequate compensation for the tourism businesses in the form of financial aid, accelerated wage subsidies, operational costs, statutory leave, utility discounts and tax obligations should be considered.

Matfa also suggested a vaccination campaign for all tourism-related sectors under the tourism, arts and culture ministry.

“We hope that the prime minister will restore the confidence in our faltering economy and give the imperative that the tourism industry direly needs.

“It cannot be an option anymore – it is mandatory- because 3.6 million workers are losing their livelihoods and the RM100 billion losses by companies cannot be dialled back. It is lost forever if we can’t stem this tide,” it said. - FMT