THE state government is working on a policy pertaining to the next normal in the tourism industry, which is indeed the worst hit industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was conveyed by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow during the virtual tourism roundtable discussion ‘Penang Tourism, The Next Norm’ with the industry’s stakeholders this afternoon.
“Earlier this week, I had announced the formation of the Tourism Penang Next Normal Taskforce which will be chaired by me with state Tourism, Heritage, Culture and Arts Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin as deputy.
“The topmost priority of the taskforce is to give an ear to the woes faced by the industry players and stakeholders; and to solicit your ideas and views.
“You are receiving the attention from the highest level of the state government because we want to ensure Penang will regain its strength in this sector,” Chow said.
Chow also said the industry players must be able to adapt themselves to the next normal as businesses would not operate in the usual way anymore.
“For the next three to six months or if not longer, we cannot think about attracting crowds of people. Apart from Malaysia, most of the countries globally have imposed a travel ban to prevent the emergences of new infection chain.
“Some of you might need to change your business operation, some even have to change your business model, but whatever it is let me assure you that the state government will be with you as we will face this crisis together.
“The state government is also looking into waiving hotel fees for the next six months in order to support the industry through these difficult times, ’’ Chow added.
Also present during the discussion were Yeoh, Penang Convention & Exhibition Bureau (PCEB) chief executive officer (CEO) Ashwin Gunasekaran and Penang Global Tourism CEO Ooi Cheok Yan.
The chief minister said the Penang government had already begun to unfold the ‘Penang Next Normal Strategy’, which is a post-pandemic plan.
“We want to ensure the resilience of our state by re-adapting our institutions, our economy and our society to the next normal.
“That is why the state government has instructed InvestPenang to form the ‘Penang Economic Next Normal Taskforce’ to identify the next economic trends and to design a strategy to attract new investments to our state.
“Last Monday, the state government, through Digital Penang, held a virtual roundtable to engage technologists and experts in various fields to look into tech solutions to help us deal with the next normal.
“The tourism sector hires more than 150,000 workers in Penang and is worth some RM9 billion. It involves more than 35,700 business establishments,” Chow said, adding that tourism is undeniably a key sector for Penang.
Chow said the Covid-19 economic stimulus package was planned after taking into account the vulnerable groups which include those from the tourism sector.
“Tour guides, trishaw peddlers, taxi drivers, e-hailing drivers, and hawkers were all given cash aids. For SME owners including those in the service sector, the state government came up with the Skim Peka (PKS) which offers interest-free loans.
“Other than that, both our city councils have launched online platforms for hawkers to deliver food to their customers,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Yeoh said tourism would now have a different outlook with sustainability and sanitisation given paramount importance while delivering the same ‘quality experience’ to the visitors.
He also said that attention would be given to domestic tourism post Covid-19.
“The industry will keep giving the best of experiences while meeting the requirements of social distancing, sustainability and hygiene practices.
“This is also a time to embrace digitalisation and spur innovation because the tourism industry has always been an important sector with regard to employment opportunities as well as driving the state’s economy.
“As such, it is vital that we look at how we can safeguard the industry to sustain the high number of jobs in Penang as the livelihoods of many are heavily dependent on it.”
In order for the tourism industry to get back on track, Yeoh shared some insights on ‘The Tourism Recovery Action Plan’ which consists of three phases – immediate, short to mid-term and long term.
“For immediate plans, we have enhanced our branding so as to assure Penang as a safe destination by giving emphasis on hygiene and safety.
“We should also start targeting areas which are less frequented and less popular such as on the mainland and Balik Pulau which make social distancing more manageable.
“Stringent sanitisation measures and social distancing will be practised.
“Hand sanitisers will need to be placed at various strategic points of an attraction or hotel, and at places commonly frequented by tourists.
“One of the things that we are looking at is to come up with standard guidelines to be shared across hotels in Penang to achieve this purpose,’’ Yeoh said.
On the short to mid-term plan, Yeoh encouraged tourism players to form partnerships and come up with attractive packages.
“We also need to instil a greater sense of safety and confidence amongst locals who will encourage the return of domestic travels.
“At the same time, we could offer special rates and discounts to reward frontliners for their contributions.
“Aside from that, we will conduct training for hospitality frontliners to revive the industry,’’ he said.
Yeoh said the ‘Experience Penang Year’ branding would be used as a common theme to spur Penang tourism once more.
“The branding effort was initiated before the Covid-19 outbreak and the effort would be continued, with the aim of recovering the tourism market as well as developing new markets.
“At the same time, we need to look at securing partnerships and investments.
“Tourism players need to work together with the state in order to deliver an adequate and desirable environment to revive the tourism industry. As it is, global tourism travel has come to a standstill,’’ he added.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix & video by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi
Live by Alvie Cheng