KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is calling on the Government to develop health accreditation that guarantees health and safety standards in order to boost confidence on tourism facilities for both locals and tourists.
Its President Datuk Tan Kok Liang said that there is a need to deal with the core issue of health and safety confidence in travel as the new priority.
"No amount of digitalisation, promotions, incentives or freebies can directly help to create demand except to boost the much-needed confidence that it is safe to travel through coordinated efforts with the relevant authorities," he said during an online forum organised by MATTA in collaboration with The Star Media Group.
Tan said there should ve a reconditioning of the public's perception regarding the matter.
"Today, we see malls and food and beverage outlets running under low capacity due to the 'Stay At Home' tagline and the fear of being infected with Covid-19. The authorities should replace the 'Stay At Home' tagline with a new one such as 'Stay Safe to portray a more positive message.
"Travellers will only venture into the world if they feel it is safe to do so. It is therefore crucial for industry stakeholders to provide them with confidence and peace of mind.
"Bolstering the confidence to travel among consumers is the key to recovery in tourism. The industry has grown very sensitive towards health and safety protocols due to the pandemic and attaining people's trust will be a challenging task," he said.
In doing so, Tan said the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and Health Ministry should consider a health accreditation mark programme for the tourism value chain.
"For example, Visit Britain had recently announced plans for a "quality mark" to be rolled out across the country. The mark will denote to potentially nervous customers that the operators are conforming to Government regulations.
"The badge will act as a safeguard towards staff and visitors and earning it will require rigorous online training and assessment session focused on hygiene and physical distancing which suppliers will need to complete before self-certifying.
"Spot checks will be carried out and the mark will be stripped from any business that is found to be non-compliant," he said.
He added that implementation and coordination by the Government is vital to ensure that measures are in place to help rebuild confidence which are jointly embraced by the Government and private sector.
"Given that the Government position views easing border controls as low priority and the Conditional Movement Control Order may not be lifted, the tourism industry will continue to suffer severe repercussions in terms of workers being laid off, hotels closing and tourism establishments folding up.
"About one million workers will soon lose their jobs if the situation continues driving tourism workers into poverty," he stressed.
Tan added that MATTA supports Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah call to the Government to restore the country's tourism sector and set out schemes to support businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The support is essential to deliver an adequate and desirable environment to work towards revival of the nation's economy tourism industry," he said.