The Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (Matta) wants Covid-19 vaccinations for Sabah tourism industry frontliners to be expedited.

Datuk Tan Kok Liang, the organization's president, welcomed state Tourism, Culture, and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin's proposal to set aside a specific quota of the Covid-19 vaccination for tourism operators in the state.

“We support his request in addition to the 1.8 million vaccination doses scheduled for Sabah in July and August 2021, which will speed the Vaccine Program rather than waiting until the end of the year.

“Tourism destinations like Langkawi and Kuching have more or less completed the vaccination programme for its tourism workers. Why not do the same for certain key tourism entry points like Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau?” he said. 

Tan stated that expediting vaccination programmes for tourism frontliners in these areas is the key driver of the tourism revival plan, which will benefit the economy as a whole.

Tan stated that Sabah's tourism industry, which was at its peak prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, is at breaking point as the hardest hit in the country due to its geographical location, which is heavily reliant on air travel.

Matta had previously issued a call to action, stating that the road to recovery for Sabah tourism must begin now rather than waiting until the end of the year, when business may be too late.

“The state must be prepared to receive domestic travellers once travel restrictions are lifted as it will definitely see a surge in business and leisure traffic.”

“Matta has always advocated for tourism workers to be given priority taking into consideration that the tourism industry employs 3.5 million workers nationwide. Sabah recorded a total of 4,195,903 tourist arrivals with estimated tourism receipts of RM9.01 billion in 2019 and, as a leading tourism destination in Malaysia, should be given due consideration by the federal government with respect to vaccinations.

He said that many highly skilled tourism workers in Sabah have been out of a job for most of the last 15 months.