{"id":656,"date":"2020-09-08T07:47:32","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T07:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/?p=656"},"modified":"2020-09-08T07:47:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T07:47:32","slug":"malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia to Remain Closed for Tourists Until the End of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Federal Government of Malaysia imposed a strict Movement Control Order in March 2020 – usually referred to by the locals as \u201clockdown\u201d or \u201cpartial lockdown\u201d – that limited the movement of the population both within the country\u2019s borders and across them. It was pretty similar to what other governments around the world imposed, restricting travel to and from certain destinations and ordering citizens to restrict their domestic travel to essential matters only.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of the restrictions were eased since then, with the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), imposed on June 10th, allowing many activities to resume – but tourists still weren\u2019t allowed entry into the country. Originally, the RMCO was supposed to expire on August 31 but a few days before its expiration date, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin expanded it<\/a> by four months, until the end of December.<\/p>\n

Strict controls<\/h3>\n

\"Covid-19<\/p>\n

As long as the RMCO is in force, leisure travellers from outside the country won\u2019t be allowed to visit Malaysia. Essential travel like business and investment activities is still permitted, and those who have families in the country will still be allowed to enter. But everyone entering the country from abroad will have to be prepared to spend two weeks watching TV or playing Lucky Nugget online pokies<\/a> in isolation. <\/p>\n

A serious effect on tourism and hospitality<\/h3>\n

\"Covid-19<\/p>\n

The \u201cVisit Malaysia\u201d campaign was seriously affected by the outbreak, considering that about half of the tourists coming to Malaysia were from Singapore and China. To ease the effects, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture planned to introduce a new, long-term campaign to help the tourism and hospitality industries recover from the losses suffered this year – estimated to have reached RM9 billion in the first quarter alone. The new campaign \u201cMalaysia, Truly Asia\u201d, focuses on Malaysia\u2019s unique multiculturalism and diversity when it comes to food, culture, and traditions. <\/p>\n

How other countries are doing<\/h3>\n

In the age of COVID-19, travel restrictions and strict conditions for visitors are not a rarity. And they seem to be working: the countries with the best track record in fighting the spread of the disease have all implemented them at some point. New Zealand, for example, only allows its own citizens, residents, diplomats, and some other categories of travellers to go to the country without a special request. All others must have a \u201ccritical purpose\u201d reason and request a travel permit to enter the country. These restrictions, along with the quick and decisive action taken by the government at the first sign of an outbreak, has kept the country\u2019s case count very low.<\/p>\n

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we find countries that have reopened their borders for tourists and other visitors to salvage their tourist season. Croatia, for example, has seen its COVID-19 cases explode as a result of its tourist destinations reopening. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal Government of Malaysia imposed a strict Movement Control Order in March 2020 – usually referred to by the locals as \u201clockdown\u201d or \u201cpartial lockdown\u201d – that limited the movement of the population both within the country\u2019s borders and across them. It was pretty similar to what other governments around the world imposed, restricting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[302],"tags":[303,307,305,306,310,62,304,308,309,227,177],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-closed","tag-corona","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-lockdown","tag-malaysia","tag-mco","tag-pandemic","tag-rmco","tag-tourism-malaysia","tag-visit-malaysia"],"yoast_head":"\nMalaysia to Remain Closed for Tourists Until the End of the Year - Latest Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ilya\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ilya\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/a32b09c0fb765a297aa9d8d6f8bc652a\"},\"headline\":\"Malaysia to Remain Closed for Tourists Until the End of the Year\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-08T07:47:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm\"},\"wordCount\":483,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/files\/2020\/09\/covid-19-status-malaysia-unsplash.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Closed\",\"Corona\",\"Covid\",\"Covid-19\",\"Lockdown\",\"Malaysia\",\"MCO\",\"Pandemic\",\"RMCO\",\"Tourism Malaysia\",\"Visit Malaysia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tourism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wonderfulmalaysia.com\/news\/malaysia-to-remain-closed-for-tourists-until-the-end-of-the-year.htm\",\"name\":\"Malaysia to Remain Closed for Tourists Until the End of the Year - 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