With Malaysia’s border reopening, Johor says expecting to receive five million tourists this year01 Apr 2022, by Malay Mail
KULAI, April 1 — About five million tourists are expected to visit Johor this year following the opening of the country’s international borders which began today, the state government said today.
Tourism Johor director Suhairi Hashim said the figure based is about 50 per cent of the number of tourists the state received before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.
“The influx of foreign tourists is expected to arrive in the state by air and land, through the Johor-Singapore border checkpoints or by ferry and boat from Indonesia.
“To welcome visitors this year, Johor has made preparations involving the various industry players by providing training, encouragement and so on to remain competitive,” said Suhairi at a press conference after welcoming the arrival of the first international flight at the Senai International Airport (LTAS) in Senai here.
Also present was Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri R Santhara Kumar.
On today’s international flights, Suhairi explained that the presence of foreign tourists is a good start for Johor and their numbers are expected to increase in the future.
Earlier, the first international flight that touched down was from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam following the opening of the international border which brought 82 passengers to the state.
Commenting further, Suhairi said Tourism Johor is encouraging new industries for the tourism sector which will enable new markets to be opened and can even promote the homestay industry in the state.
He pointed out that in Johor, there are 27 villages that have been developed as a pilot project for homestay development in the state.
“Such an effort was developed because Tourism Johor does not want the industry to be left behind with the expected influx of foreign tourists to the state,” he said.
Suhairi hoped that all shopping malls in the state are able to operate as usual due to the influx of travellers which will increase from time to time.
“I hope the malls will recover, while the shops that were previously closed due to the pandemic will be able to operate again,” he said, adding that it would be a good start for the traders to generate their income again as a result of the influx of foreign visitors.