Travel bubble SOP next week - tourism minister

The tourism, arts, and culture ministry (MOTAC) expects to complete drafting their standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the proposed travel bubbles with selected countries by next week.

Its minister Nancy Shukri (above) said they would then be submitted for evaluation by the National Security Council (NSC).

“MOTAC has been tasked by the government to put forward our proposals with our SOPs. We are also talking to the ambassadors, listening to them. They also want to know what is our plan. We have been talking to Japan, Singapore… this is going to be a continuous initiative from our side,” Nancy said.

She was speaking at a press conference after launching the 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia TV Promotional Campaign' and announcing the winners of the 'Cuti-cuti at Home Music Video Competition' in Kuala Lumpur today.

According to Nancy, MOTAC was also collaborating with other ministries, such as the health ministry, home affairs ministry, and foreign affairs ministry, to prepare the SOPs.

Earlier, Nancy said in her speech that, judging by the Domestic Tourism Promotion Travel Series, she found that domestic tourism had received encouraging response from the public.

"I am happy to see the people's support towards domestic tourism, where many hotels are also fully booked and many are also going out with their families during weekends," she said.

She shared that a survey of 13,797 individuals in the country regarding the people's perception of travelling after the movement control order (MCO) showed that domestic tourism was still a priority when 50.9 percent of the respondents said they believed travelling within the country was safer after the MCO.

In addition, 71.3 percent of the respondents picked Malaysia as a safer tourism destination compared to other countries, she said.

She also said that it was the right time to launch the TV promotion today, with the themes of the videos providing a unique identity to tourist destinations in Malaysia.

The minister said that continuous promotion was needed to spark interest in the people to travel and prod them into wanting to feel the experience that comes with travelling as seen in the promotional videos.

Five videos were produced showcasing tourism themes and products, including islands and beaches, deep-sea diving and snorkelling, nature and adventure, local food, as well as thematic - a genre covering all aspects of tourism.

Apart from being played on mainstream media such as TV1, TV2 and TV OKEY, the videos were also uploaded on digital platforms.

Meanwhile, the three winners of the music video competition were Ko Chuan Li (musical instrument), Mohd Yatim Naming (singing), and Clarissa Premini Robert Jeyakumar (sketch).

- Bernama