RWG return off until 90pct jab rate nationally: govt

Sep 29, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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A so-called domestic-tourism bubble that would have permitted Malaysian casino complex Resorts World Genting (RWG) to reopen on Friday (October 1), has been suspended indefinitely, reported The Edge Markets, citing a tourism official.

The promoter of the property (pictured), Genting Malaysia Bhd, had announced on May 31 that the whole of the complex was to be shut temporarily, due to an uptick in Covid-19 infections in Malaysia.

In its second-quarter results announced in August, Genting Malaysia said it had significantly narrowed its quarterly loss year-on-year, thanks to factors including improved business of its casinos in the United States and reopening of operations in the United Kingdom. But it still registered a group-wide loss amounting to MYR348.1 million (US$82.8 million).

Malaysian official Kamaruddin Ibrahim was cited on Tuesday as saying the decision to postpone the tourism bubble plan came after a statement by Malaysia’s prime minister that reopening of tourism destinations and of interstate travel would only be allowed when the vaccination rate of the country’s adult population had reached 90 percent.

Malaysia’s The Star newspaper reported that as of Saturday, a total of 19,481,273 individuals, or 83.1 percent, of the adult population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry had reportedly proposed that after Langkawi in Kedah, three other destinations in Malaysia, namely, Genting Highlands, Tioman Island, and Melaka be reopened to tourists under a domestic tourism bubble.

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