ITC CHAIRMAN’S SPECIAL MESSAGE

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. In the name of Allah The All-Compassionate, All-Merciful.

Assalamualaikum WHB (May Peace Be Upon You) and greetings from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia (MOTAC).

I am pleased to share that on 22 June 2021, ITC turned 12 years old — a much rewarding journey in developing Malaysia as a Muslim-friendly tourist destination.

It has been a challenging first half of the year, no doubt, but globally, things seem hopeful as destinations begin planning towards travel borders reopening, vaccination passports, travel bubbles, safe accommodations, and such. 

We have made progress beginning  with the kickstart of our national COVID-19 Immunisation Programme, in February this year. I am glad that tourism industry players have the opportunity also to play a key role in facilitating this programme by providing their premises as quarantine and vaccination centres.

Their support in the national fight to curb the spread of COVID-19 is much welcomed. As tourism frontliners, they have recently been prioritised for vaccination, indeed, a step towards quickly restoring Malaysia’s tourism economy.

Moreover, Malaysia is exploring the idea of making the island destination of Langkawi as the pioneer location for COVID-19 Free Destination Programme. The successful rollout of vaccinations for the island’s population as well as potential partnerships with airlines such as Qatar Airways, may lead the way for this plan to be realised on the island, and elsewhere in Malaysia, in stages.

These are some of the first steps the Malaysian Government is taking in reopening our borders to international tourists. Malaysia welcomes tourists from all over the world, and for Muslim travellers, we can assure that Malaysia is a place you will feel comfortable in. With the efforts of ITC, we have developed Malaysia to be a Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality destination offering unique and meaningful experiences.

As Chairman of ITC, I call upon all tourism industry players, in both Malaysia and abroad, to capitalise on the potentials of the anticipated reopening of borders into Malaysia. Let’s work together so that Muslim tourists can once again enjoy their travels to Malaysia.

With Malaysia having been named best in the world for Muslim-friendly travel by the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report 2020/21, it is timely for us to strengthen the foundations of Muslim-friendly Malaysia beyond this pandemic.

#LindungDiriLindungSemua #MuslimfriendlyMalaysia

Dato’ Dr. Noor Zari Hamat
Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia & Chairman, Islamic Tourism Centre