By Tan Ming Luk

We welcome the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC)'s recent media statement reiterating its commitment to collaborate with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) to prioritize the vaccination of frontliners from Malaysia's tourism sector who are working during the Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0.

While we appreciate the ministry's efforts to champion the needs of the approximately 3.6 million people employed in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry in the country, we are cognizant of the fact that for this to have any effect on the industry's recovery, all frontliners across all sectors in tourism,travel and hospitality need to be vaccinated, and not just those who are serving during MCO 3.0.

With the pandemic continuing to show little sign of abating amidst a resurgence in some states and tight border restrictions remaining in place, vaccination plays a hugely significant role in ensuring the recovery of the sector which had contributed an average of RM80 million annually to Malaysia's economy during the pre-pandemic years.

OYO sees the blanket administration of vaccines for all industry frontliners, and not just those operating in businesses earmarked as essential services during MCO 3.0, as equally essential to the industry's survival and recovery.

For this to happen, we need the support of the entire tourism, travel and hospitality industry.

OYO stands in solidarity with everyone in the industry and has launched a campaign on Change.org to call for the urgent vaccination of all frontliners in the tourism, travel and hospitality industry in Malaysia.

A delayed vaccination program for tourism, travel and hospitality frontliners will not only threaten the industry's survivability, but will also impact the livelihoods of everyone employed in it, especially in states which are heavily reliant on tourism as a key economic contributor.

Publicly available data indicate that hotels in Malaysia lose an estimated RM300 million for every two weeks the Movement Control Order is in force.

Major airlines in Malaysia, namely Malaysia Airlines Bhd, AirAsia Group Bhd, its long-haul affiliate AirAsia X Bhd and Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd have also shed thousands of jobs after grounding most of their planes following the Movement Control Order in March to preserve cash flow. Others continue to survive but at the expense of furloughs, layoffs and debt restructuring.

While subsidies, grants and loan moratoriums are defibrillation mechanisms needed by an industry surviving by the skin of its teeth, the reality is that the sooner we prioritize the vaccination of all frontliners in the tourism, travel and hospitality industry, the faster the sector can recover.

We can learn from countries that have prioritized the vaccination of frontliners in tourism, travel and hospitality to see the impact it has made on the industry.

In Seychelles, for example, an immunization campaign was launched at the end of January for the islands with the aim of vaccinating the majority of the population by mid-March and reopening to tourism.

In fact, the growth recorded from January to date is 1.39% despite the fact that the archipelago is already open to vaccinated travelers.

Greece, too, has organized its own vaccination campaign to help the sector, with their government focusing on the minor islands, isolated places where the virus has spread little, immediately starting the vaccination of the local population in order to immunize the area and give hope to summer tourism.

The announcement of the program was made public a few days ago, and perhaps it is still too early to assess its impact; at the moment, the variation in searches for flights to Greece is +1.02%.

The same can and must be done in Malaysia. As more people are vaccinated and a safer environment is created for everyone, I believe that consumer confidence to travel again will increase significantly and help the recovery of the travel and tourism sector still coming to terms with the continued effects of the pandemic.

I am confident that vaccination, along with mask wearing and physical distancing as well as stepped-up cleanliness protocols and hygiene practices are all key in mitigating any potential spread of COVID-19.

With one collective voice, let us speak up in support of each other and call for the urgent vaccination of all frontliners in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry – with the aim of sparking an ebullient, resurgent tourism sector in Malaysia.

(Tan Ming Luk is Vice-President and Head, Malaysia & Singapore, OYO, the world's leading chain of hotels and homes operating in over 800 cities in 80 countries.)