Penang State EXCO for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage (PETACH) YB Yeoh Soon Hin said that Penang tourism needs to discover the “next normal” to keep the industry going post Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to drive state tourism recovery efforts, Yeoh said priority for social distancing and stringent hygienic practices would top the list – which would be challenging in the effort to drive state tourism recovery efforts.

YB Yeoh Soon Hin said “The tourism industry has always been an important sector through the employment opportunities offered and in driving the state economy. As such, it is critical that we look at how we can safeguard the industry to sustain the high number of jobs in Penang whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on how the industry would go.

He added “It would require tourism players to work together with the state, in order to deliver an adequate and desirable environment to revive tourism once more after global tourism travel has come to a standstill amid the worse of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“Travel industry has always been about experiencing through your senses, the engagement with the community, the connection we establish with a place when we explore somewhere new – it all defines the experience of “being there” that makes travelling such a profound experience.

“And now, we have to look at tourism differently - with sustainability and sanitisation being paramount above all to deliver the same quality experience that the visitors have come to expect while meeting the requirements of social distancing, sustainability and hygienic practice – without sacrificing the best of the experiences that the industry offers,” he said.

He also said that this is one of the aspects that the state government with all industry players will need to look into seriously at the coming roundtable discussion going to be held this Saturday with key tourism players and stakeholders to address Covid-19 challenges and propose solutions.

Yeoh said the session open by invitation only will be held via video conferencing to brainstorm and invite input from the tourism players in order to compile a more relevant tourism recovery action plan for Penang.

“The state is committed to prioritising the recovery of the tourism industry.

In a statement on April 23, he said “However, we know that current situation is not the norm. So, this roundtable is to put our heads together to explore the new norm for the industry in order to keep the industry going and sustained for the coming challenging months,”.

He said the state has drawn up a preliminary Tourism Recovery Action Plan with Penang Global Tourism in February when the effects of the Covid-19 outbreak has begun to affect the global tourism market.

“We are re-drawing and updating a new Tourism Recovery Action Plan to reflect the evolving situation of the Covid-19. This is so that the coming efforts could address the current challenges faced by the industry.

He added “This industry is one of the key industries of Penang, and this is a crisis which calls for all of us to join hands together to ensure that we can pull through this crisis,”.