Last week, travel-starved Malaysians took the first flight out to Pulau Langkawi when the government announced that the holiday island will be opened to tourists as part of a pilot travel bubble programme.

The government has recently deemed the programme a success, and now, they are reopening more tourist destinations.

Three more destinations set to be reopened

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture announced on Tuesday (21 September) that they have proposed for Genting Highlands, Pulau Tioman and Melaka to be reopened to tourists via the domestic tourism bubble.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, said the proposal was approved in the COVID-19 Ministerial Quartet meeting yesterday.

These three destinations have been given the green light to reopen its doors to tourists on 1 October.

"Today, we approved three more destinations (Genting Highlands, Pulau Tioman and Melaka), and they will be brought to the special meeting [of the Special Committee on Tackling COVID-19] tomorrow," she was quoted as saying.


For the time being, the Ministry is currently studying the travel standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the three destinations.

The industry players in the three destinations have been told to be ready to welcome visitors again, Nancy added.

Up next: allowing fully vaccinated Malaysians to balik kampung and visit their parents, perhaps?