Malaysia recently announced plans to open Langkawi, its archipelago of 99 islands in the Malacca Strait, as a tourism bubble pilot project. The islands are 30km off the north-west coast of Malaysia, near the Thai border.
Tourism Minister Nancy Shukri said the idea had been extended to include the resort islands of Pangkor, Redang, Tioman, and Perhentian, as they could reach herd immunity vaccination rates by the end of August. This would allow them to reopen by September, she said.
As in Thailand, the bubble approach worked well on resort islands where it was physically easier to manage tourist movement, explained the Minister.
Those allowed to travel to Langkawi would have to be fully vaccinated, and this mandate is likely to be imposed for the other islands as well.
