Desaru Coast is well poised to be a premium beach destination that changes the tourism landscape in southern Malaysia, although the revival of local and international tourism will take some time.

In expressing the optimism, Desaru Development Holdings One Sdn Bhd managing director Roslina Arbak said Desaru Coast in Johor has wide open spaces spanning across 3,900 acres along a 17-km unspoiled beachfront.

"In addition, our specially curated activities embrace the new normal with stringent Standard Operating Procedures and safety measures, which has since become the routine normal for us at Desaru Coast to ensure the well-being of our visitors," she said .

Desaru Development has several luxury resorts within Desaru Coast including Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast.

Roslina said 2020 was intended to be a significant year for tourism, leveraging on the "Malaysia, Truly Asia" slogan and repositioning the country as a premier destination for international travel in the region.

"Visit Malaysia Year 2020 targeted 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100 billion in tourist receipts for the year. However the Covid-19 pandemic has upturned all the best-laid plans which the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had in place."

She said a transition to the new normal, in whatever form, would have to come gradually when travellers have the confidence that they can do what they used to do without endangering themselves or others.

"Gaining that confidence will require a continuation of the progress in adopting public-health interventions and community-wide responsible behavioral approach.

"Therefore, this can pave the way forward for the government to sustain the promotion of domestic tourism supported by health and safety measurements widely adopted across the hospitality industry."

Roslina added that an upswing in domestic tourism would increase demand for services related to travel trade, including airlines, accommodation, F&B retail and ground transportation.

On its strategies to remain competitive, she said a survey by Tourism Malaysia in mid-April 2020 had shown that the majority of respondents would consider hygiene and safety as the main priority in deciding to travel.

They have a strong desire for less crowded areas, with islands and beaches topping the list of desired destinations.

"Respondents also prioritise pricing and product attractiveness, prefer hotels and resorts, and self-drive over public transportation and air travel.

"Thus we looked at the pandemic as a good opportunity for us to truly position Desaru Coast within the domestic travel market. Travellers who typically would have gone abroad, now look within Malaysia, to get away from the crowd."

Roslina said it had curated a suite of flexible packages to meet the demands and expectations of the market during the challenging times.

"Desaru Coast have also developed new packages with specially curated itineraries that promote decoupling from crowded spaces by leveraging on the wide expanse of space available here. The way we operate has changed and evolved as part of the new norm.

"With the international ferry terminal opening next year, offering direct connectivity to Singapore, Desaru Coast is a perfect destination for corporate activities and bespoke events catering to both business and leisure travellers," she added.