Aid initiatives for tourism industry

KUALA LUMPUR: The initiatives for the tourism sector under the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi (Pemulih) assistance programme will help sustain and rehabilitate the industry.

Recently announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the initiatives include deferment of monthly income tax installments and tourism tax and service tax exemption until year-end, and a RM3,000 one-off assistance for 5,335 agencies under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry with an allocation of RM16 million.

Association of Bumiputera Tourism Operating Companies Malaysia president Harun K.C. Ahmmu said he appreciated the continuous government assistance for entrepreneurs affected during the pandemic.

He said tourism agencies could at least survive with the aid as they could not generate any income now.

“The tourism industry is close to being buried, but the government understands our problem and has provided aid.”

Harun said the moratorium and exemption and deferral of payments allowed industry players to remain positive until the country recovered from the pandemic.

“We have requested a moratorium extension for the tourism industry until it has recovered because this (sector) is different from others.

“Taking into account the Movement Control Order 3.0, some sectors were allowed to operate, but not the tourism sector, which has completely stopped operations.”

Malaysia Tourism Council vice-president and Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Adjunct Professor Datuk Azlie Halim said the United Nations World Tourism Organisation had forecasted that it might take two to four years for the industry to recover.

“So industry players must promote tourism events and products to attract more tourists to the country.

“Tourism Malaysia’s survey of 13,797 people showed that 88.4 per cent choose to plan their own holiday, while 11.6 per cent prefer tourism packages.”

Kampungstay and Homestay Association president Zohaime Muhamad Sori said although homestays involved the rural tourism sector, the government provided incentives to ensure they remained in business.

He said homestay tourism generated income for residents and the impact of the pandemic was different on it than other major tourism products.

“The one-off aid given by the government is appreciated as it shows it understands our problem.

“For now, we can survive as we don’t have many commitments, but we hope more can be done to promote our industry once the Covid-19 pandemic is over.”

Penang Tourist Guide Association chairman Chin Poh Chin said the incentives and waivers would benefit players when the tourism industry restarts.

“We hope the government can accelerate vaccinations for the tourism sector to quicken the re-opening of tourism activities and reopen the borders to benefit tourist agents.”

MRI Residence owner Muhammad Rusdi Ismail said he was thankful as he had already received government assistance.

“I have benefited from the RM3,000 assistance from Pemerkasa and RM3,000 Prihatin Special Grant.”

EZi2Haramain Travel and Tours owner Norfarihah Hashim said she benefited from the wage subsidy programme, which allowed her staff to maintain their livelihood.

“The interest-free loan allocation from Tekun and Mara also helped my company.”

MZ Holidays Sdn Bhd managing director Mohd Zamzuri Desa said he too had benefited from the RM3,000 aid for agencies under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, adding that the assistance would help ease some of the burden felt by industry players.

Source: NST