Kuala Lumpur: Pulau Pangkor, Pulau Redang and Pulau Tioman are among the tourist destinations that are expected to be opened to the public in the near future.

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the opening of more tourist destinations was an effort to revitalize the tourism industry.

According to her, tourism has become one of the most severely affected industries by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past year.

"The government has provided various assistance to alleviate the hardships of tourism industry players through the economic stimulus package announced earlier.

"The ministry itself is also implementing non -financial initiatives to assist tour operators such as Compound -Related Relaxation, Fee Exemption for Tour Operators and Relaxation of License Conditions for Tour Operators," he said during an oral answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

She was responding to a question posed by Tan Kok Wai (PH-Cheras) who wanted to know to what extent was attention being given to the plight of the tourism industry and whether effective strategies were implemented to save the industry which was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nancy said the Tourism Bubble Rintus Project on Langkawi Island is now a benchmark before the government examines the decision to open the country's borders to receive foreign tourists.

“We started with Langkawi Island because the island has an international airport.

"The ministry has doubled discussions with various agencies and if successful, we will open interstate travel in a little while.

"If we depend on domestic tourism alone, we cannot afford it, but with the opening of international tourism with Langkawi Island, it will be a pilot project first for the Tourism Bubble with two doses of vaccine and other criteria," she said.