Female tourists visiting Terengganu must now adhere to a state guideline which bars them from dressing in an “arousing” manner, executive council member in charge of tourism Mohd Jidin Shafee said.

The guideline comes after Terengganu announced a ban on male Muslims from being in public places during Friday prayer time, with offenders to be paraded in hearses.

"We will issue a notice and guideline before we take any legal action on women who dress publicly in revealing and arousing clothes," Mohd Jidin is reported as saying by state news portal teganukita.my.

However, the article published at http://teganukita.my/terengganu-keluar-garis-panduan-etika-berpakaian-pelancong/ was taken down several hours later.

The regulations under a 2001 state syariah enactment will not lead to a drop in tourism, Mohd Jidin said in the article.

Local and foreign tourists have abided by the dress code since it was announced two weeks ago, he said.

Terengganu has among the most beautiful islands in Malaysia, with bikini-clad foreign and local tourists flocking the likes of Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang.

Last week, Terengganu MCA urged the state the review the Friday prayer ruling, saying that it will not send the right signal to investors.  

Besides the ruling on Friday prayers, Terengganu also bars men and women who are not related to each other from riding motorcyles together.