Expect more traffic in the island of pearls, as the Penang government will place emphasis on domestic tourism in the first half of 2021 in hopes of rejuvenating the state’s tourism industry and stimulating the growth of the local economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Penang exco for Tourism and Creative Economy (PETACE) Yeoh Soon Hin, domestic tourism, focusing on family-oriented vacations, eco-tourism and creative cultural tourism, was necessary to sustain the tourism industry and fill in the void from international travel, which still remained uncertain.
Revitalizing tourism in 2021 is rather challenging with the heightening cases of Covid-19 in Malaysia. Nevertheless, Yeoh is hopeful of working towards a V-shaped recovery and rebound when the vaccine is publicly accessible and applicable.
“Although the Covid-19 pandemic has strong impacts on the global tourism industry, we observed that this does not diminish people’s desire for travel and tourism. In order to tap into this, many nations are now formulating strategies and tailoring plans to prepare for its revival and transformation,” he said, according to BERNAMA.
He also said that PETACE will develop strategies for the creative economy aligned with the United Nations’ declaration for 2021 as the “International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development”.
“Creative economy has huge potential in stimulating economic development. We will be launching a series of creative economy activities next year to encourage aspiring Penangites to step forward and unleash their creativity and innovation,” he said.
He added that PETACE and Penang Global Tourism would soon announce a campaign to introduce tourism activities through collaboration with industry players and stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the Penang state recorded a total of 226 new Covid-19 cases as of yesterday (1 January 2021).
If you are planning on a trip to Penang or anywhere else in Malaysia, please do strictly comply with the government’s SOPs and avoid crowded places, as we are still in the middle of a pandemic, and the vaccine is not accessible yet.
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