The Malaysian Hotels Association (MAH) urged the Government to consider developing a cohesive framework to help the decision-making process of the tourism industry in the development of more products and services to meet the industry's immediate necessities.

Chief executive officer Yap Lip Sengthe tourist industry currently lacks data management and analytics to act as a baseline for travel patterns and tourist trends.

In terms of data processing and data-based action, Malaysia is really far behind neighboring countries.

“Just look at tourist arrivals for example. We recorded 26 million tourist arrivals in 2019 but half of them are Singaporeans and do we even classify them as tourists?.

“And the report only comes in the middle of the year for the year before. It is not actionable with the reports coming six months after the actual period,” he said during a webinar titled “Post-COVID-19 Recovery: Building SME Resilient” organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)  yesterday.

He said business associations like MAH plays a vital role in consolidating the need for technology for industry players.

In the meantime, IDEAS political paper suggests that the newly published long-term recovery plan on tourism should still be comprehensively examined to better address the patterns and developments of tourism in the future.

The think tank said it should provide guidance to ensure the health of visitors and the local population by strict implementation of measures to distancing the socialist structure, hygiene standards and crisis management. 

The strategy, if properly implemented, would help Malaysia recover travellers' trust in the short term.

It also adds that certain stakeholders, including Safety and Sanitary Conditions, currently uphold consolidation of existing and applicable standard operating procedures.