GEORGE TOWN, March 19 — The tourism industry in Penang is hoping for better business in the coming weeks after Penang welcomed the first group of passengers under the Singapore-Penang Vaccinated Travel Lane by air programme on Wednesday.
He said the VTL programme will benefit the state's economy and bring much needed revenue to the tourism industry that has suffered during the pandemic. Ch'ng said now is the best time for VTL to be implemented and in two weeks, the reopening of the country's borders, as it is low season. “The first VTL to Penang only has about 60 to 100 passengers so it is too early to gauge the impact of the VTL for now,” he said.
“If we look at pre-Covid statistics, it is usually low season for domestic travellers around this time up to June, and previously, it was the foreign visitors that made up the numbers during this period,” he said. On Wednesday, the first VTL flight from Singapore carrying about 60 passengers touched down at the Penang International Airport at about 6.40pm.