The Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Repercussions on the Malaysian Tourism Industry

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus(Covid-19)has hit the nation’s tourism sector hard.With the closure of borders,industry players should now realize that they cannot rely and focus too much on international receipts but should also give equal balance attention to local tourist and tourism products.Hence,urgent steps must be taken by the government to reduce the impact of this outbreak on the country’s economy,by introducing measures to boost domestic tourism and to satisfy the cravings of the tourism needs of the population.It is not an understatement that Malaysians often look for tourists’destinations outside Malaysia for fun and adventure,ignoring the fact that Malaysia has a lot to offer to tourist in terms of sun,sea,culture,heritage,gastronomy,and adventure.National geography programs like“Tribal Chef”demonstrate how“experiential tourism”resonates with the young and adventurous,international and Malaysian alike.The main purpose of this paper is to give an insight about the effect of Covid-19 pandemic to the tourism and hospitality services industry in Malaysia.What is the immediate impact of Covid-19 pandemic on Malaysia’s tourism industry?What are the initiatives(stimulus package)taken by the Malaysian government in order to ensure tourism sustainability during Covid-19 pandemic?How to boost tourist confidence?How to revive Malaysia’s tourism industry?How local government agencies can help in promoting and coordinating domestic tourism?These are some of the questions which a response is provided in the paper.Due to the current Conditional Movement Control Order(CMCO)in Malaysia which started from 18th March 2020 to the time this paper is written,the methodology is largely reliant on daily news and information including national Malaysia news and daily updates in local newspaper.The paper also makes some recommendations which have implications for practitioners and policy makers.