FOLLOWING the country’s transition to the endemic phase of the Covid-19, several stakeholders and business operators in the tourism and services industries in Penang are staying optimistic.
Some, however, felt that it has not brought about any significant changes yet. They said more time would be needed for their businesses to get fully restored to pre-pandemic times.
Earlier on April 1, Malaysia started to reopen its international borders as well as lift its restriction on business operation hours.
Below are the opinions given by respondents during a survey conducted by Buletin Mutiara today.
Mohamad Shahmi Hadzri (Persatuan Pemandu Teksi & Pemandu Kereta Sewa Pulau Pinang president)
“At the moment, there is still not much demand for taxi service. But I am optimistic that with the reopening of the international borders things will get better soon.
“During the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) previously, many taxi drivers had switched career.
“Some have ventured into business while others have joined the delivery services to sustain their livelihood.
“Now the situation is improving but not 100 per cent like before the pandemic. On top of that, we also must compete with the e-hailing services.
“Now we are hoping that the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal will resume its operation. This is because most of our customers are the international tourists who enter Penang here via cruise.”
Ch’ng Huck Theng (Association Tourism Attractions Penang chairman)
“We expect the arrival of tourists to Penang to increase by 25 per cent as international tourists have now been allowed to enter our country.
“I also believe that we can see a better prospect in the future.
“In the meantime, the tourism industry is facing a shortage of manpower as many workers had shifted to other fields during the implementation of MCO.
“Although the state government has introduced various initiatives to overcome the problem such as organising the ‘Jom Cari Kerja ’programme, the role of the private sectors is also very crucial during this time.”
K.Rajendran, 69, Maya Silk owner
“Business is still slow during this transition to endemic phase. We just have to wait and see how it goes.
“I have not seen international tourists here in Little India area yet.”
Krisnan Manikam, 65, Devan Jewellers manager
“It is good that we are entering the endemic phase but there is no significant increase yet in crowd size in Little India.
“We enjoyed very good business last month because it was an auspicious month for wedding events. We had many customers, but now our business has slowed down.
“We will have more customers from Friday till Sunday. The rest of the days, there will be fewer shoppers.
“Almost everybody is recovering from the hard times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And people can only buy gold when they have the money. Furthermore, the gold price has soared.”
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix courtesy of Interviewees