Chinese tourists: Sabah to discuss SOP tomorrow

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah will have a meeting tomorrow to decide on the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for receiving tourists from China.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the government could not give any further comments before the meeting was held.

"Tomorrow, we will have a meeting to make the decision or SOPs for receiving tourists from China.

"After the meeting tomorrow, we can give further comments," he told reporters after visiting the location of the homes affected by waves crashing at Kampung Tanjung Aru Baru, here, on Tuesday.

He said this when asked regarding Sabah government's stance on whether they would receive tourists from China this year.

This year predicted roughly 1.2 million Chinese tourists would come to Malaysia and the country was expected to generate RM3.6 billion through their presence.

It followed the announcement of Chinese authorities that allowed its citizens to travel overseas without needing to provide travel details.

Sabah was among the states that became the focal point and the choice of Chinese tourists as a vacation destination and the state recorded the highest number of tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

However, the issue of visitors from China to Malaysia garnered different reactions from several parties regarding the risk of Covid-19 infection, including the new subvariant recently discovered.

In 2020, Malaysia was among the countries badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions on the entry of tourists were enforced to prevent serious infections.