PUTRAJAYA, Aug 15 — The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) is planning to implement the tourism bubble approach in the country’s major tourist destinations other than Langkawi, said its Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

She said the tourism bubble approach was for locations, such as resort islands, that had easy-to-control methods to manage tourist movement.

In a statement today, Nancy said Motac welcomed Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement today that the government was examining the views and feedback of stakeholders on plans to make Langkawi a pilot project as a tourism bubble destination.

"The move was made as a consideration based on three main aspects, namely the health and safety of the people; the people’s economic and business continuity; as well as for the people’s well-being,” she also said.

According to Muhyiddin’s statement, the Health Ministry and health experts have recommended that the pilot project be implemented only when 80 per cent of the total population of Langkawi has been fully vaccinated.

Those allowed to travel to Langkawi in the future will be limited to fully vaccinated individuals.

The population of Langkawi is estimated at 108,400 people.

According to Nancy, the population on the island who have received both doses of the vaccine is 88,137 and it is expected that by the end of this month, Langkawi would achieve herd immunity. — Bernama