After a long wait, the 49th Matta Fair November 2021will be finally taking place at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur from 20-21st of November.
While many are eager to start travelling, there is good and bad news for everyone out there, and you should know that the focus of this year's Matta Fair 2021 will be on domestic travel.
However, visitors to the travel fair are encouraged NOT to bring their children as per the health ministry's recommendation.
Matta Fair November 2021
Following the last MATTA Digital Fair 2020, from 23 to 30 September, 95 travel and tour agents took part from most states around Malaysia. And the previous physical fair was held in September 2019.
Malaysia Airlines was the official airline, and the Sarawak Tourism Board was the destination partner and over 1,000 packages, mainly domestic, were offered, with the tagline 'Buy Now Travel Later'.
Matta Fair March 2021 was also cancelled due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced nationwide. People were confined to their homes while domestic state borders were closed.
Eventually, the government's plan for vaccination reached 90% for double-dosed on adults, and borders were ultimately opened for domestic travel in October 2021. Many took the opportunity to travel locally, while others took advantage of some travel promotions and flew to Langkawi.
Now that the Covid19 numbers have significantly decreased to under 5,000 daily cases, more people are considering travelling around Malaysia.
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| Visitors at a previous Matta Fair at PWTC. |
Again, international borders are still not fully opened while specific allowances are given for special reasons like education, medical or business travels. However, leisure is still in a very grey area.
But I do not see international travel being high on anyone's agenda due to the complicated procedures for entry to various countries. Each one has different criteria and quarantine processes, it can get pretty complex, so many feel it is best to just wait it out.
Who is Participating at Matta Fair 2021?
There has not been any official announcement on who is participating. Still, I gather that Tourism Malaysia will be the main anchor, the state tourism boards, airlines, and various domestic tour companies.
Independent tourism attractions, theme parks, airlines and even homestays should also be active at this years travel fair.
You can also expect a lot of domestic travel packages, namely weekend packages or 3D/2N packages, to be offered at excellent prices.
Other packages should include nature, culture, scuba diving and even the popular free and easy packages. It would also be better for the consumer to visit the fair to see what is on offer.
Update: 3 November;
The news came out after I published this article, and international tourism organisations from Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, Turkey and Uganda continue to promote their markets for international tourism.
The 49th Matta Fair will also be held on a smaller scale and occupy Hall 3 and 4 of the WTC (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur.
- Hall 3 WTC (International Hall) - International Tourism Organisations will be featured here.
- Hall 4 WTC (Malaysia Hall) - Nearly all state tourism organisations and domestic travel and tourism products will be featured here.
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| This year's Matta Fair will take place from 20-21 November at PWTC, KL. |
Matta Fair November 2021
- Date: 20 - 21 November
- Time: 10.00 AM to 8.00 PM
- Venue: World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur (PWTC)
- Admission: FREE
Conclusion
You can now visit this upcoming Matta Fair November 2021 at WTC, Kuala Lumpur, if you have been waiting patiently to start travelling again. However, please take note that the majority of tour and travel packages are for domestic travel only.
For international travel, there is no confirmed news on when it will be fully opened as each country around the world has different criteria for entry, based on vaccination and so on.