KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): It will be a very bad year, especially for retailers who depend on the foreign tourists, The Edge Malaysia reports.

“Retailers who have been dependent on foreign tourists will not be able to recover this year. Thus, we expect many to close down. These retailers include those operating in major shopping districts such as the KLCC area, Bukit Bintang and Chinatown,” Retail Group Malaysia managing director Tan Hai Hsin (pictured) told the weekly recently.

According to the report, “tourists made up 30% of the shopper demographics” at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur in Jalan Bukit Bintang before the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to stem the spread of Covod-19

Tan added that “other areas likely to be affected include resort islands such as Penang and Langkawi, as well as those in Sabah and Sarawak”.

The business publication also reported that as theme parks are still not allowed to open with the current Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) that took over the MCO in May 4, “retailers within theme parks are likely to be hit hard by the lack of visitors, as in the case of Genting Highlands”.

There are still no details from the authorities when theme parks are allowed to open again.

And with international travel still restricted, Tan also explained that retailers at airports such as KLIA, klia2, Penang International Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport “could shutter their stores for good”.

He added that “luxury brands tend to rely on the foreign tourist business and projects that it will take time to see the return of high-spending visitors from abroad”.

Read the full report in this week’s The Edge Malaysia