Genting, Melaka & Tioman Island May Join Travel Bubble Rollout

More destinations set for travel bubble

Malaysia has eased restrictions for travel in recent days, with Langkawi now reopened to fully vaccinated tourists under a “travel bubble” scheme. Its reopening has been hailed as a success too, catering to 9,500 tourists since 16th September 2021, when it began allowing travellers in regardless of nationwide interstate travel bans.

Following soon in its footsteps will be Genting, Melaka and Tioman Island. These three well-known destinations for domestic tourism may receive approval to join the Kedah locale in the travel bubble on Thursday, 23rd September. If approved, they will reopen to fully vaccinated individuals on 1st October.

Three more destinations to be added to travel bubble

The addition of three more tourist attractions under the travel bubble was announced by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri on Tuesday, 21st September, in a Parliament press conference.

According to a report by The Star, Genting, Melaka and Tioman Island have been named as the next areas in Malaysia that will welcome fully vaccinated individuals for tourism purposes. This follows after the success of Langkawi, considered a “pilot project” for the novel travel concept during the pandemic.

But the decision to reopen these potential areas is still subject to approval, as Nancy is quoted saying that the addition of new travel bubble areas in the country was considered on Tuesday, 21st September. The matter will then be decided upon at a Special Committee on Pandemic management meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in attendance on Thursday, 23rd September.

Only upon approval will these destinations be given the green light to reopen, and they will have two weeks to prep for a tentative 1st October reopening.

Image credit: @dovngun

Other destinations in Malaysia that has potential to join the travel bubble and welcome back fully vaccinated tourists include mainland areas and islands.

As the current three areas named for possible reopening cover a broad area, the government is also looking into fine-tuning standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure the public’s safety at entry points, including consideration for Covid-19 swab tests to be made mandatory for eager travellers.

Genting, Melaka and Tioman Island may reopen with Langkawi

After several months of various Movement Control Orders in Malaysia, many have been looking to stretch their legs and hit the play button on their travel plans that were set aside during the pandemic again. As such, the possible reopening of more locations under the travel bubble comes as a respite for fully vaccinated individuals.