It’s a great news for the local tourism sector as Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture have announced that Langkawi will be reopened to fully vaccinated Malaysians on 16th September 2021 with conjunction of Malaysia Day. Recently, Minister of MOTAC, Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri have announced the statement together with Travel Bubble Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed by those who have planned to visit the island soon. Here are the SOP that have been announced by the MOTAC:
- Only those individuals who have been fully vaccinated (completed two doses) allowed.
- Type of vacations that are allowed are staycation (same day roundtrip), overnight, pre-booked accommodation/ticket, holiday package under travel agency that are registered under MOTAC.
- Number of passengers allowed in a vehicle is up to the initial capacity of the vehicle itself.
- Tourists that need to familiarize with the schedule of ferry services to Langkawi are allowed to overnight at any registered premise in Kedah or Perlis.
- Tourists need to show vacation documents as proof such as flight tickets, ferry tickets, hotel receipt or travel package receipt when requesting for approval to interstate travel from Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) or when being asked by SOP compliance agency enforcement.
- Activities that are allowed in Langkawi throughout the Travel Bubble SOP:
- Overnight stays in hotels and homestays including the use of facilities in the premise such as surau, swimming pool, gymnasium, lounge, hall, business events (MICE), tourism and cultural activities depending on the Phase 4 SOP that have been enforced by Malaysia Security Council and following the SOP from respective ministry / organization / agency.
- Beach activities, water sports, snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing activities, edutainment center, recreational parks, extreme/adventure/nature parks, farms, aquarium, zoo and other social and recreational activities.
- Self-interest holiday activities (golfing, scuba diving, cycling, angling, yatching etc.)
- Eco geo-trekking activities (bird watching, caving, mountain climbing, white water rafting, hiking, jungle trekking, camping etc.)
- Art, culture and heritage activities such as museum, library, art gallery, cultural village / center, cultural show etc.)
- Theme park and family entertainment center.
- Educational trip such as Geopark Discovery Center, Balai Seni, Laman Padi.
There’s no age restriction for those who plan to enter Langkawi. Tourist under the age of 18 are allowed to travel to Langkawi as long as they bring along their fully vaccinated guardian along. We do hope that this will be a new hope for the tourism industry to breathe again and soon for other tourist spots to be reopened under travel bubble as well.