Leisure & tourism sector is critical to economy and key driver in leading its recovery

by Sim Choo Kheng
Founder and CEO of Sim Leisure Group

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s economy has been of grave concern, to say the least. While some industries are harder hit than others, few have taken as heavy a blow as the leisure and tourism sector which has not been able to effectively operate since March 2020.

As a result, many industry players both small and big have had to either lay off staff, or worse, close permanently, further accentuating the deep impact of the pandemic on these businesses. 

However, the reveal of the National Recovery Plan has left many questions to be answered. Can the Malaysian leisure and tourism sector sustain another four months of continuous lockdown, as proposed in the National Recovery Plan?  What guarantees are there that these strategies will work?

They clearly haven’t in the past, either due to poor enforcement and inconsistent implementation. How is it different this time around?

This prompts a further question - what is the criteria when deciding which industries can open and in which pecking order?  Presently in Malaysia, there is a very heavy and lopsided focus on the manufacturing sector, in which numerous factories have produced a huge bulk of COVID-19 cases.

This has contributed tremendously to the high statistics of positive cases, due to the nature of the operations with staff working indoors in close proximity. In fact, it has been documented that nearly four of 10 coronavirus clusters reported since late February have originated from factories.

In contrast, less than a meagre 0.5% of reported cluster cases came from theme parks and hotels. Yet they have been the first to close and the last to open.           

A big blow
The leisure and tourism industries have been among Malaysia’s biggest sectors for employment with a turnover of RM81.6 billion (in 2019) at stake.

In fact, the industry comprises almost a quarter of all employment in the country with 3.56 million employees in 2019.

Malaysia needs to understand the importance of the services sector and how it has overtaken, and in most cases replaced the manufacturing sector in terms of economic contribution as can be seen in most advanced economies around the world.  

In terms of successful models for the effective management of COVID whilst balancing industry needs and rebuilding the economy, we need only look at countries like Australia. The country has taken a ‘zero case’ approach, locking down only for short stints with proper contact tracing and enforcement, whilst facilitating the staged reopening of key economic sectors.

This has allowed many of their key industries, particularly in the service sector to responsibly operate and regain much needed lost ground. Now, Australia is even seeing the return of normal crowds at sporting events while theme park and attractions have resumed operations.  In fact, the country is currently already witnessing a rebound of the domestic tourism and leisure sector, which has seen significant spikes in growth.

Malaysia needs to be mindful that any unnecessary delays in effectively addressing COVID and the reopening of the leisure and tourism sector will result in significant lost revenues to some of our South East Asian neighbours who have been better at managing this issue.

Naturally, they are poised to win the day. Time is of the essence. Whoever is late to the party will miss out on the huge expected potential tourism rebound.   

Tourism is already starting to see a rebound in Europe and the Middle East as many tourism and leisure businesses are starting to open up as mass vaccination programs rapidly roll out.

Lack of voice
Whilst other key sectors have lobbied strongly and spoken out to put their interests at the forefront of both the government and public’s mind, the Malaysian attractions industry has lacked a voice and strong advocates to put forward its interests.  

The importance of the attractions industry within the overall leisure and tourism sector should not be underestimated given it is one of the larger employers and a strong contributor to domestic and international tourism revenue. 

I feel sorry for the likes of Genting having spent USD$1 billion on their new Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park, which will be helping the country to drive domestic and international tourism, creating many new jobs while supporting a wide variety of businesses. Yet, they are unable to open until year end.

This country needs a transitional group of entrepreneurs to lead the leisure and tourism sector into the future. Without them, we will face competitive issues very soon. The endless lockdowns are killing newcomers, depriving the industry of future tourism leaders and players. We need new ideas and new blood.

Impact on mental health
Many Malaysians have experienced the great impact this pandemic has taken on their mental health. We have effectively become prisoners in our own homes and severely restricted in going outdoors and undertaking recreational activities.  

Studies have shown increased depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms during the pandemic, with depression rates showing the greatest increase.

A vital part of our physiological health and well-being is to enjoy the outdoors and pursue recreational activities and this will help alleviate much of this problem. However, the lockdown has had a very detrimental impact on many recreational attractions across Malaysia with many closing for good. 

Our ESCAPE Parks have also not been able to operate, much to our frustration, which has not only severely impacted our business but also our employees and customers.  The ESCAPE Parks offer Malaysians large open spaces to take in the sunshine, play, exercise and have fun – really no different to going jogging which has been allowed.

Ultimately, the government needs to clearly detail once and for all how we are going to overcome the pandemic with a clear and consistent plan. This is important to balance the needs of industry and supporting key economic sectors such as leisure and tourism to reopen and to try and address the huge losses we have all sustained and get our country moving forward again. - DagangNews.com

Sim Choo Kheng is a Founder and CEO of leading Singapore-listed attractions company Sim Leisure Group. A veteran with over 30 years of industry experience and the owner and operator of ESCAPE Parks, and recently acquired indoor edutainment centre, KidZania Kuala Lumpur.