Growing fears over the emerging Omicron variant is threatening the budding recovery of outbound travel in Malaysia, as countries around the world rush to impose fresh travel restrictions amid global alarm.
Cooper Huang, CEO, Malaysian Harmony Tours and Travel, said the agency has postponed indefinitely the launch of new tours to Thailand this month as he monitors developments of the Omicron variant, which has been deemed to be potentially more contagious than prior variants.
He noted that the tightening of border restrictions by countries in response to Omicron and the unpredictability of changing policies are putting the brakes on leisure travel. He cited the example of Japan, which joined Israel in shutting its borders to foreigners on Monday (November 29) to guard against the variant.
Angelica Chan, country market manager, Traveloka, shared that outbound travel demand in Malaysia had been weak to begin with, and the Omicron variant has only added to the fears of travellers. She said that as little is known about the new variant at this stage, many people are adopting a wait-and-see attitude before planning overseas holidays.
She said Malaysians making bookings on Traveloka are mainly those travelling to visit family overseas, rather than for leisure purposes.
According to a European airline source, people are travelling for essential reasons, and not for leisure or holidays. The continent is currently battling a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections and countries such as Austria has extended their lockdown to December 11.
South Korea will scrap quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated travellers for two weeks from Friday (December 3), as the country moves to tighten travel restrictions after detecting its first five cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant on Wednesday.
A fully vaccinated couple tested positive for the variant after arriving last week from Nigeria, followed by two of their family members and a friend, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
As part of tightened border measures, all travellers entering the country will be tested for the new variant.
From Friday, all inbound travellers will have to serve a 10-day quarantine, halting exemptions previously given to fully vaccinated travellers. The measure will be in place for two weeks.
South Korea has also announced a suspension of direct flights from Ethiopia for two weeks starting Saturday.
In addition, the government is also barring arrivals from eight African countries, with Nigeria added to that list on Wednesday.
South Korea has an established vaccinated travel lane with Singapore. According to a report by The Straits Times, a check with KDCA showed that no decision has been made yet about whether VTL travellers will be subject to the mandatory quarantine.
The KDCA reported 5,266 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, a day after the daily tally rose above 5,000 for the first time, with the number of severe cases reaching a record 733. The new cases bring South Korea’s total to 457,612, with 3,705 deaths.