An Analysis on the Consumer Legal Protection in Umrah Package Travel Industry During Covid-19 Pandemic

Norhasliza Binti Ghapa,Farhanin Binti Abdullah Asuhaimi Farhanin Binti Abdullah Asuhaimi,Noraida Binti Harun Noraida Binti Harun,Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas Zuhairah Ariff Abd Ghadas

doi:10.37231/jmtp.2020.2.3.173

Norhasliza Binti Ghapa, Farhanin Binti Abdullah Asuhaimi Farhanin Binti Abdullah Asuhaimi + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.37231/jmtp.2020.2.3.173

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Abstract

Umrah package travel has been recognized as one of the main contributors to the Malaysian tourism industry. Muslims in Malaysia travel by package to Mecca and Medina for their specific purpose: to perform religious duty (Umrah) to fulfill the unity of spirit, heart and soul. Recently, thousands of Umrah packages were cancelled by the local tour operators and travel agents due to the decision made by the government of Saudi Arabia who banned the entry to Mecca and Medina due to the fast spread of Covid-19. Consequently, tour operators and travel agents respond differently to this extraordinary circumstance which leads to tremendous loss to the consumers. Thus, this paper aims to investigate how the Malaysian legal system safeguards the rights and interests of Umrah package travelers in Malaysia in the event of extraordinary circumstance by analyzing the existing academic literature and relevant statutes including Consumer Protection Act 1999, Tourism Industry Act 1992 and MATTA Code of Ethics for Members. The results of the above analysis will define the adequacy of the existing legal framework and the mechanism that we still need to protect the welfare of Umrah package travelers.

Highlights

The COVID-19 virus is an on-going global flu pandemic that has come to be considered as the worst post-World War II pandemic to affect the world, surpassing the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012
The examination on the scope of protection exposes that the existing provisions of Consumer Protection Act (CPA) 1999 are strongly concentrated on the safety of goods and services, misleading and false action and practices, unfair terms as well as redress. It excludes a number of matters important to consumers including the terms, obligations of traders and remedies entitled by the consumers in the existence of extraordinary circumstances
This paper found that Code 5.2.7 of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Code of Ethics for Members is very general and has not apparently guided what is the information that needs to be provided by the tour operators and travel agents, when the information should be provided to the consumers and how it should be provided to the consumers

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 virus is an on-going global flu pandemic that has come to be considered as the worst post-World War II pandemic to affect the world, surpassing the outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2012. After the World Health Organization (WHO)’s declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, many countries imposed Movement Control Order (MCO) or Temporary Entry Restriction Order (TERO) barring entry of international tourists as well as restricting the movement of local citizens to high \risk countries. In March 2020, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) registered the first case of COVID-19. On 20 Sep 2020, the KSA reported 334,605 cases, with 319,154 recoveries and 4,768 deaths. The KSA has taken several measures to control the spread of COVID19 including prohibiting any entry to Makah and Madinah until further notice. Umrah ceased from March 2020 until further notice. As a result, this scenario has badly affected Umrah package travelers and they have suffered major economic, spiritual as well as emotional losses (the Star Online, 2017)

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