KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — Travel for domestic tourism will be allowed within and between states designated as Covid-19 green zones starting November 22, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.

The senior defence minister said this decision was made based on the advice of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) to help the local tourism industry that has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Interstate and inter-district movement within green zones may be undertaken without police permission.

However, Ismail also said tourists travelling between green zones must obtain police permission if they must cross a red zone.

"Further standard operating procedure (SOPs) will be released by Motac soon,” he added.

Ismail also assured Malaysians that those not from green zones would be prevented from using domestic tourism to travel without authorisation.

"It would not happen because there are checkpoints at every entrance and exit of every district.

"No one would be able to leave a district that is not a green zone without police permission,” he said when replying to a question from a reporter.

From November 22, Pahang, Perlis, Terengganu, and Malacca will return to being green zones released from the conditional movement control order (CMCO), along with most of Kedah, Johor, and Sarawak.

Kelantan, Selangor, Penang, Perak, Negri Sembilan and Sabah, as well as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan will be under the CMCO.