Langkawi (Malaysia) (AFP)

Visitors rushed to the Malaysian island of Langkawi for its reopening Thursday to local tourists, a first test for the Southeast Asian country after months of restrictions due to the coronavirus.

The country's borders remain closed for foreigners but Langkawi has been chosen to experience a return of local visitors, provided they are vaccinated and tested, as the number of Covid-19 cases gradually drops in the country.

Water cannons greeted the arrival of the first tourists landing at the airport.

"We are very excited because we haven't been anywhere since February 2020," Andrea Manason, an Australian living in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP, who came with her family of six.

"It's really exciting to be there for us and to see the kids leave the house actually," she added.

Children play in Pantai Cenang on Langkawi a day before the Malaysian holiday island reopened to domestic tourists Mohd RASFAN AFP

Hotels and tourism businesses were able to reopen and activities resume on the island's palm-fringed beaches.

Tourists must be vaccinated and undergo a test before departure.

The director of a yacht charter company, Alexander Isaac, also expressed his relief: "We cannot afford to have more lockdowns (...) we have to reopen the economy and put people back to work" .

Langkawi welcomed 3.9 million visitors in 2019, but that number has plummeted since the pandemic.

A water salute welcomes a Malaysia Airlines aircraft to Langkawi Mohd RASFAN AFP

If this "tourist bubble" is successful, other destinations could reopen in Malaysia.

In the region, Thailand has reopened several islands, including Phuket, to vaccinated foreign tourists.

Malaysia reconfigured nationwide in June when the country was grappling with a deadly new wave of Covid-19.

The country has recorded more than two million cases in total and more than 22,000 deaths.

Authorities have started lifting restrictions in recent weeks as the epidemic subsides and the vaccination campaign accelerates.

More than half of the Malaysian population is now vaccinated.

© 2021 AFP