The Wrap is a weekly round-up of news in the travel and technology industries, and keep track of developments in these sectors as the green shoots of recovery slowly take root.
Domestic tourism in Malaysia resumes as country enters recovery phase
Malaysia’s government’s announcement that the domestic tourism sector can resume operations from today (10 June) brought some cheer to the travel industry crippled by the coronavirus, which also led to the cancellation of the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in a televised address on Sunday (7 June) stated that as the virus outbreak was “successfully under control” and Malaysia would enter a recovery phase – recovery movement control order (RMCO) – until 31 August.
Yassin said on expiration of the RMCO the country would then be in a “normalisation phase” from 31 August until a vaccine is found.
Malaysia has been under the movement control order (MCO) since 18 March, changing to the conditional movement control order (CMCO) on 4 May that expired on 9 June.
Under the recovery phase inter-state travel is allowed, paving the way for the reopening of the domestic travel sector. However, the country’s borders remain close with ban on Malaysians travelling overseas and no entry for foreign travellers.
Health director general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, however, said borders could be reopened after 31 August if the number of infections remains low during the RMCO. At time of writing (10 June), Malaysia registered just two new cases, the lowest number of infections since the MCO began (total confirmed cases are 8,338).
With the RMCO almost all social, sports, religious and education activities are permitted to open in phases with standard operation procedures (SOPs) in place. Businesses are also allowed to return to normal operating hours.
Reactions from travel industry players
“The move is timely as the tourism sector can help the country accelerate the economic recovery phase. This is because the tourism sector involves other sub-sectors of the economy such as hospitality (hotels and other types of tourist accommodation), transport, restaurant operators and tourist guides,” said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri in a statement.
“However, at the same time these activities need to be carried out with utmost responsibility while practising the new normal and strictly adhering to all SOPs set by the National Security Council and the Ministry of Health,” she added.
Meanwhile, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Datuk Tan Kok Liang urged Malaysians to go for holidays. This in turn will help revive economic activities such attractions, accommodation, transportation, f&b and more. He reassured travellers that that health and safety protocols are in place to boost travellers’ confidence.
He hopes the government would consider opening up the country’s borders, to foreign tourists specifically from Asean or low risk countries like Vietnam, Brunei, New Zealand, instead of waiting three months.
AirAsia Group commends the government’s efforts in curbing the spread of Covid-19 and welcomes the announcement of the RMCO.
The airline said in a statement that in recent weeks countries around the world are resuming domestic travel, and gradually reopening international borders in recognition that air transport provides the connectivity that is essential for the resumption of economic activities.
“The formation and discussion of travel bubbles and green lanes with key economic partners with a low infection rate and proven pandemic curbing systems, is a step in the right direction.”
AirAsia reiterates air travel remains one of the safest modes of travel. It cites evidence from the International Air Transport Association (IATA),that suggests that the risk of transmission on board is extremely low. On its part the carrier has implemented end-to-end contactless procedures and a series of new safety measures, as well as taking care of those most at risk to ensure the safety of all travelling guests.
The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) said the opening would see the beginning of the recovery of domestic tourism. According to its chief executive Yap Lip Seng, hotels are ready to receive guests as all SOPs regarding safety and hygiene practices are in place.
Singapore Airlines rolls out KrisPay-It-Forward’ to thank Covid-19 frontliners
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has launched KrisPay-It-Forward, a new project that allows KrisFlyer members to show their appreciation for the frontliners in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Members of the loyalty programme can donate their miles via the KrisPay app to buy edible treats for 100,000 healthcare workers, conservancy workers, public transport operators, taxi drivers and migrant workers in Singapore.
Part of #SIAcares initiative, members can purchase one treat with each donation of 450 KrisPay miles (equivalent to S$3). These include a samosa set, a muffin and bun set, a milk tea or green tea set, a doughnut set and a curry puff set. The items are provided by KrisPay partners including Anglo Indian Café and Bar, Cedele, Gong Cha, Krispy Kreme, Polar Puffs & Cakes, and Sakunthala’s Food Palace.
The campaign will run until 15 July, or until the target of funding 50,000 treats with the donated miles, is met. Singapore Airlines will match this with another 50,000 treats. The treats will then be delivered to the recipients.
To donate, KrisFlyer members can download and log in to the KrisPay app. They then need to click on the KrisPay It Forward link in the “Highlights” section and follow the instructions. Members can top up their KrisPay wallet with KrisFlyer miles and donate any amount they wish.
“This initiative provides a platform for KrisFlyer members to show their support for frontliners, and as well as many of the unsung heroes in our community. This is our small way of thanking them by giving them a well-deserved treat, and giving local businesses a boost at the same time,” said JoAnn Tan, SIA acting senior vice president, marketing planning.
AirAsia Foundation goes digital to meet its mandate in era of coronavirus
Travel restrictions, social distancing and the implementation of quarantine measures has led AirAsia Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the AirAsia Group, to undergo a digital transformation to tap on e-commerce, digital fund-raising and e-learning channels to meet its regional mandate.
The foundation was set up with the goals to support the growth of social enterprises in Asean through grant-giving and mentorship of its grantees. However, with travel bans in place the latter has ground to halt, forcing the cancellation of workshops it had planned.
This leaves the charitable body to focus on growing Destination: GOOD, its commercial arm, which retails social enterprise products by more than 50 organisations.
Although its flagship store in Kuala Lumpur has had to shutter during Malaysia’s movement control order (MCO) period, its online store at Destination:GOOD.com continues to do business, expanding to a sub-outlet on OURSHOP.com, another AirAsia-backed e-commerce portal. (Now all shops can open in Malaysia under the recovery movement control order).
“With delivery services proliferating, we have been able to continue selling quarantine essentials produced by social enterprises, from food and children’s books to personal hygiene products,” said the foundation.
It has partnered with local social enterprise Batik Boutique, which employs women from low-income backgrounds as seamstresses to earn sustainable income and acquire marketable skills, to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontliners, as well as batik face masks and batik colouring kits for home schooling.
Beyond e-commerce, its donation drive is also going online. Previously donations raised for post-disaster rehabilitation programmes in Asean were carried by AirAsia cabin crew who carried donation boxes on flights. Through airasiafoundation.com, the airline’s financial services platform BigPay, online bank transfers and credit card payments the foundation is able to give speedy donations to those whose livelihood has been impacted by the ongoing pandemic.
“A third way that Covid-19 has precipitated realignment is in our anti-trafficking initiative,” said AirAsia. Starting 2017, the foundation has been organising classroom trainings for AirAsia cabin crew to recognise, report and record cases of human trafficking on its flights. While live training has been highly effective in engaging participants, Covid-19 resource crunches has necessitated a rethink on how best to deploy our resources.
“This is why we are transitioning fully to e-learning. With classroom training, we had enough trainers to reach some cabin crew in Kuala Lumpur each month. With digital learning, we can reach cabin crew, pilots, ground and security staff based in any of AirAsia’s 24 hubs across the network.”
This, in turn frees up resources post-coronavirus to focus on developing the next phase of its anti-trafficking initiative to provide helpline information in multiple languages through the use of chatbots and AI technologies, it added.
Although it is too early to say how the world will emerge from the coronavirus crisis, the foundation said that “from our perspective, an unexpected silver lining to the changes we experienced is the gain in efficiency and scale.”
Malaysia resumes international flights in July, increases domestic connectivity
With countries worldwide gradually opening their borders Malaysia Airlines will restart its international services in July to allow the reunion of families separated by travel restrictions in many parts of the world.
As Malaysia moves to a recovery phase from today (10 June), allowing inter-state travel, the national carrier is also increasing its domestic connectivity beginning this month to facilitate essential travels locally. Malaysians are still not allowed to travel abroad.
The airline said it would adjust its network capacity from time to time to ensure passenger demands are met, prior to normalising the schedule in October for both domestic and international destinations.
On the domestic front, until July MAS will mount scheduled twice-weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Alor Setar, Johor Baru, Kota Baru, Langkawi, Terengganu, Labuan, Miri, Sandakan and Tawau. There will be weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan, Bintulu and Sibu.
Additionally there will be thrice-weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Penang and Kuching in June, with services between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching increased to five times a week in July.
From July, for the international routes MAS will reinstate twice-weekly services between Kuala Lumpur and Dhaka, Kathmandu, London, Osaka, Narita, Incheon, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Denpasar, Phuket and Cambodia.
However, services between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne will be twice-weekly from July 1 to 18, and once a week from July 19 to July 31. Services between Kuala Lumpur and Sydney will be twice-weekly from July 1 to July 5, and once a week from July 6 to 31.
MAS will also resume flights in July to numerous other cities including Singapore, Manila, Jakarta/Bangkok, Taipei, Guangzhou, and a few cities in India. Check out the full flight details on the airline’s website at malaysiaairlines.com
Malaysia Airlines said it has implemented various enhanced safety measures and protocols in coordination with health and airport authorities. These include temperature checks, sanitisation and disinfection of all properties and facilities, enforcement of social distancing, mandatory usage of face masks and installation of protective screen barriers at check-in counters and transfer desks at KL International Airport (KLIA). All frontliners on ground and onboard are required to wear personal protective equipment and their health screened daily.
These health and safety precautionary measures are also extended to the Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounges, which the airline plans to re-open on 1 July.
• Featured image credit (Eagles feeding at mangrove swamp on Langkawi Island, Malaysia): al_la/Getty Images