ALOR SETAR, Jan 24 — Kedah Tourism will continue to intensify tourism promotion efforts, especially on social media, although the state is under the movement control order (MCO).

Kedah Tourism manager Nor Azlan Fitri Abdul Razak said continuous efforts were required to ensure that the tourism sector in the state, which has been hit by a decline in tourist arrivals due to Covid-19, could survive.

"Through this continuous promotion, tourists can plan and list the places they would want to visit when the MCO ends.

"According to our data, the number of domestic tourists to 12 districts in the state, especially Baling and Yan, increases tremendously every time inter-district travel is allowed because there are many interesting places there,” he told Bernama today.

He said that since the Covid-19 outbreak and the enforcement of the MCO in March last year, many tourism operators in the state had to shut down as they could not afford to sustain their businesses due to financial difficulties.

"This is unavoidable, but I hope all tourism operators in Kedah can survive and resume operations once the pandemic is over,” he said.

He said Kedah Tourism, the state government and other agencies, including the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, would help to revive tourism activities in Kedah and the country. — Bernama