Brisk sale of Shopee tourism deals reflects industry recovery

KUALA LUMPUR: E-commerce platform Shopee sees signs of recovery in Malaysia’s tourism industry following encouraging response to the Tourism Malaysia campaign.

Shopee said 22,000 Jom Cuti-Cuti Malaysia! Experience Malaysia Like Never Before deals were snapped up since the announcement on March 2 of the lifting of the inter-district travel ban and when the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Selangor, Johor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur was downgraded to the Conditional MCO.

“This is encouraging compared with the 500 transactions made between Jan 11 (when MCO 2.0 was announced) and March 1,” it said.

In December, Shopee teamed up with Tourism Malaysia for the campaign, which was relaunched following a two-month hiatus.

Shopee said there was pent-up demand for staycations from residents in the Klang Valley, Penang, Sabah and Johor, making up 75 per cent of demand for deals in the states.

Furthermore, it said, there was optimism from Malaysians about the eventual reopening of state borders, especially in Sarawak, Terengganu and Melaka, where many chose Buy Now, Travel Later deals.

Popular destinations included Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur; Sunway Lagoon and Zoo Negara in Selangor; and, Rainbow SkyWalk at The Top Penang and Wonderfood Museum in Penang.

Other popular destinations were Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan for fishing, snorkelling and banana boat rides; and Kedah’s Langkawi for hotels, tours and recreational activities.

“The robust demand shows that Malaysians want and need a break after prolonged stay-at-home measures,” Shopee regional managing director Ian Ho said.