Winston (seated, right) with members from Matta and MCTA.
KOTA KINABALU: China’s ban on international group travel to contain the deadly coronavirus outbreak and Malaysia’s move to stop issuing visas for Chinese citizens from Wuhan and the areas around Hubei province will hit the tourism industry, especially in Sabah, badly.
Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) president Datuk Seri Winston Liaw has asked the government to step in and help the tourism sector as Satta expects a sharp drop in tourist arrivals to Sabah.
He said about 45 percent of tourists arriving in Sabah presently are from China and with the policy change on travels imposed by the country due to the disease, the tourism sector in Sabah is expecting the worst.
“The problems are exceptional. In my 30 years in this line, this will be one of the most challenging so far,” he told reporters after meeting with other tourism players from Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) and Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA).
He added that to date, a total of 22 tour groups from Sabah had left for China.
The groups have no place to go, he said, since all the attraction points have been shut.
Restaurants have also been closed due to the directive from the government, he said.
“We have hundreds of tour members now stuck in China and they have requested to return early,” he said.
Liaw said it is estimated that between 600 and 700 tour members following the tours from Sabah are now stranded in China, excluding Free Independent Travelers (FIT).
“If we include the FIT, there are over 1,000 of them now stranded there,” he said.
He added that so far, five tour groups to China from Sabah have also been cancelled.
“It is unfortunate that it has to happen in 2020,” he said.
He then urged tour members who have booked to travel to China to cancel their trip since the priority would be their safety.
Liaw also asked the airlines involved to assist the tour operators involved in Sabah as the latter will incur losses.
“With some airlines, they can provide refund while some allow their travellers to defer their dates of travels,” he said.
However, he said those booked on charter flights would face a problem as they won’t be able to defer their travel itineraries.
Nevertheless, communication is underway to see if refunds could be arranged, he said.
In addition, the tourism sector in Sabah is also affected by the China government’S decision to suspend travels abroad for its citizens.
Liaw said various players ranging from hotels to restaurants to tour buses would be adversely impacted by the decision.
He added that all tour operators operating on prepaid mode and ask if the government could come in to help overcome this problem so that the losses to the industry could be minimized.
In view of the current scenario, he expects the industry will take up to six months to recover, and that some, who are faced with weakened financial capabilities, may not make it at all.
“They may have to close their operation,” he said.
He also said that the scenario would also have negative impact on the employment scene in Sabah and that the prospect of people being laid off from work is very likely.
Matta president Tan Kok Liang said tour agents had been receiving a lot of cancellations, although he did not have the actual number.
As of now, Tan said, inbound and outbound tourism between Malaysia and China have been severely affected.
“The Wuhan coronavirus will affect the national tourism industry. Matta hopes that the situation is contained and that it will last only for a short period.
“We hope the situation will be contained and will only be for the short term, otherwise the repercussions will be more severe as it will affect the global tourism,” he said.
Bloomberg reported that China had ordered travel agencies to suspend sales of domestic and international tours to contain the spread of 2019-nCoV, which was first detected in Wuhan last month.
China’s Culture and Tourism Ministry had ordered travel agencies and tourism companies to stop selling tour packages beginning Friday, according to a document seen by the international news agency.
The action came about at the start of the Lunar New Year holidays, when millions of Chinese travel across the country and abroad.
From January to September last year, China was the third biggest source of foreign tourists (2.41 million arrivals), after Singapore (7.8 million) and Indonesia (2.7 million).