by AZALEA AZUAR / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) said the government’s decision to reopen the international borders would revive Malaysia is tourism and cultural industry which have been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) expects world tourism to return to a pre-pandemic state on or after 2024. In addition, the UNWTO also expects that international tourist arrivals will increase by 30% to 78% in 2022 compared to 2021.

“However, it is still 50% to 63% lower than the pre-pandemic level. This is because the contagion of the Omicron variant that is considered mildly symptomatic has disrupted the early 2022 recovery phase,” Motac said in a statement yesterday.

The ministry held its first National Committee for Tourism and Culture Development (JKPPK) Meeting for 2022 to discuss tourism issues.

The meeting was chaired by Motac Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri which involves tourism and culture excos and state government departments.

The committee presented the National Cultural Policy, Budget 2022, funds under the Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd’s supervision and the Special Tourism Investment Zone.

The meeting also touched on the government’s assistance or incentives to ensure the survival of industry players, promoting and marketing tourism and cultural products in each state, workforce in the tourism and cultural industries and reopening of the country’s international borders.

Since 2022 and 2023 is important for tourism and cultural sectors to recover, the JKPPK meeting also included domestic and international tourism, revitalising the arts and cultural ecosystem, generating the country’s economy from creative industries, adding value to business events, upgrading and maintaining tourism facilities.