LETTER | It should be no surprise if a layperson has a superficial understanding of the local tourism industry or its major components. But those that ought to know could also be oblivious and they include leaders in government and travel associations, tourism lecturers and graduates, and the media.

Tourism studies in tertiary institutions are largely academic, but theories alone have little use or application in the real world of business. Like any other industry, tourism could be boiled down to hard facts and figures but disregarded by those looking only through their own lenses.

Right on cue, the Department of Statistics releases the Domestic Tourism Survey at the end of every June and the annual Tourism Satellite Account in September. These two reports provide a wealth of information on our tourism industry encompassing domestic, inbound and outbound.

In 2019 for example, 3.6 million people were employed in the tourism industry, or 23.6 percent of the 15.1 million workforces in the country. And 2.4 million, or more than two out of every three persons in the tourism industry, were employed in the food and beverages, and retail trade.

As for the RM89.4 billion inbound tourism expenditure in 2019, RM51.6 billion or 57.7 percent went to shopping and accommodation combined. As for the RM92.6 billion domestic tourism expenditure, RM53.7 billion or 58 percent were for shopping plus food and beverage.

By far, food and beverages, shopping and accommodation were the three biggest sectors in tourism, employing the greatest number of people and gaining the largest share of the tourism expenditures in 2019. But all have been adversely affected by the pandemic in various degrees.

The worst-hit on the food and beverages sector was large restaurants that serve cook to order meals and they operate inside shopping malls, hotels, shophouses facing a street, standalone buildings and converted bungalows with parking facilities, and many cater large wedding dinners.

These restaurants depend on dine-ins for business where customers could sit in comfort and enjoy freshly cooked or piping hot meals, and diners are prepared to pay for quality and luxury. Such gourmet foods cannot be enjoyed or taste the same if not consumed in the restaurant.

However, foods that must be prepared in advance, such as roasted meat or poultry, are still good to eat at home if roasted not too long ago, and certainly not the day before. Those specialising in roasted foods could be busy serving takeaways or delivering orders during this pandemic.

But most orders for delivery are fast foods or local meals that are more affordable. Those who prefer to take away would look for shophouse outlets that are easier to reach compared to those inside shopping malls. They can also opt for one of the many roadside stalls and food trucks.

While the food and beverage sectors experienced mixed fortunes, mostly negative, the retail trade nosedived en masse. Apart from being impacted by various restrictions, most of the population suffered reduced income or none for those who have lost their livelihood.

Many shops inside shopping malls and those along streets are either closed or without customers. Most shoppers are afraid of contracting the coronavirus or have lost their purchasing power. As the end of the pandemic is still nowhere in sight, many people are conserving cash.

Those with a penchant for window shopping have taken to browsing online. Before the pandemic, window shoppers may inspect the goods physically at a store and then order them online at a lower price. Retailers that have gone online get some business during this pandemic.

It is better for many retailers to close shop, as many have done along Kuala Lumpur’s Petaling Street, aka Chinatown, and the nearby Central Market, a bazaar for traders catering to tourists. Many new shopping malls are nearing completion, including the massive Bukit Bintang City Centre, which is actually located at Jalan Hang Tuah where the former Pudu Prison was located.

When it comes to accommodation, licensed hotels were badly hit as many have closed and those operating are devoid of guests. Private residences rented by tourists and entrepreneurs that made a killing pre-pandemic by operating unlicensed hotels are now stuck with apartments that could not generate income to repay loans and no buyers for their properties.

The fate of luxurious five-star hotels and convention centres depend on the borders, whether they are closed or open, as they derive their business largely from international corporate travellers and those attending business events. But for the much more affordable budget and tourist-class hotels, their occupancies will immediately pick up when interstate travel restrictions are lifted.

However, overnight lifting of intrastate or interstate travel restrictions and allowing more than one person per table for dining in, Covid-19 infections are bound to shoot up to a new high and lead to yet another lockdown. If so, we will be back to square one, as happened again and again.

I had earlier proposed and wish to reiterate that only solo travelling, shopping and dining should be allowed and there is no need to wait until a state has reached Phase 2 or 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP). And it should be allowed immediately without further delay.

If we had implemented this in May 2020 when the movement control order (MCO) was replaced by the conditional MCO, we would not have to go through the recovery MCO, then reverted to conditional MCO in November, and back to MCO in January this year.

Those who drive solo to travel outstation, stay alone in a hotel and dine alone without sharing a table with others, and practise physical distancing while shopping or doing business are highly unlikely to contract or spread Covid-19 if they wear their masks properly at public places.

The standard operating procedure (SOP) for solo dining should include wearing the mask until food or drink is served and put the mask back on immediately after finishing. Diners are not allowed to speak using the phone or with others present. This is because Covid-19 is mostly spread in droplets emitted when talking, laughing, coughing, sneezing, smoking or vaping.

Before the pandemic, the Domestic Tourism Survey found that over 68 percent of domestic tourists stayed with relatives and friends. Now, such close contacts could easily spread Covid-10 infections. It will happen again if many people are allowed to travel freely within the country.

Hence, it is better to start with those staying in hotels and only customers who have paid for their rooms in advance are permitted to travel. Allowing those driving, staying, dining, and shopping solo will give an immediate boost to our hotels, shops and restaurants.

Permitting solo dining would allow many people in the neighbourhood to enjoy a cuppa or a hot meal in a traditional coffee shop. It may well be the only luxury left for many Malaysians.

Sadly, Covid-19 daily cases in August are raging at a record high and morale at an all-time low. Tourism industry players have little control of their livelihood, and their fate is largely dependent on the measures put in place by the authorities.

So far, these have not led to a slow and steady recovery of the business. Instead, we have been going back and forth or making U-turns every now and then. Covid-19 daily cases went up and down at the beginning of the year but shot up from May and were uncontrollable from July.

And the worst hit are businesses that have kept the faith and hung on. Had they known any better, they would have just given up much earlier instead of continuing to pile up more losses. Before, businesses in the same industry could experience mixed fortunes, depending on management.

Today, almost all tourism businesses are ill-fated as conditions may remain unchanged over the next few years and may even worsen. The economy of our beleaguered nation may eventually recover, but international tourism will never regain its height pre-pandemic.

This is because the world will continuously be interrupted by pandemics, cyberattacks, terrorism and wars, caused mainly by the warmongering United States of America, which had waged endless wars outside its own territories since the end of World War II in 1945.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.