About one million travellers have arrived in Malaysia since the country reopened its borders on April 1, said tourism minister Nancy Shukri.
The number meant that the country has reached the halfway mark of its "Malaysia Truly Asia 2022" campaign target of two million tourist arrivals, said the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister on Saturday (June 4).
"Looking at the tourist arrivals from two months ago, from Singapore alone we have received about 600,000 travellers. "We are optimistic that we will be seeing a rise in these figures from other countries such as Japan and India," she told the media in Bukit Jelutong, Selangor state, after attending an event. Datuk Seri Nancy said the travellers were interested to come to Malaysia due to the more relaxed Covid-19 protocols.
"Travelers don't need to be quarantined, undergo extra PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and RTK (antigen rapid test) Covid-19 tests and purchase Covid-19 insurance.
"Our restaurant operating hours are also a bit relaxed so these are the factors that enticed travellers to our country," she said.
Malaysia transitioned into the endemic phase of living with the virus from April 1, but still required people to use the MySejahtera app - akin to Singapore's TraceTogether app - before entering malls, shops and offices.
Though mask-wearing in outdoor settings are optional, Malaysians are required to wear masks indoors.
Prior to the pandemic, Malaysia recorded 26.1 million international visitors in 2019.
Malaysia on Friday logged 1,844 new Covid-19 cases, with low rates of Covid-19 hospitalisations and patients in intensive care units, according to data on the government's CovidNow website. A total of 82.9 per cent of all Malaysians have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
