WHILE it appreciated the efforts by the Government to help the ailing hotel industry, Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) said that more needs to be done to help the sector.
“The Government can start by extending the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU). This is crucial as it will help the industry to rehire manpower needed to rejuvenate the sector,” its president Datuk N Subramaniam told FocusM.
Under Budget 2022, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced allocation of RM332.1 bil to finance the budget, the highest compared to the previous ones.
Despite allocation RM2 bil to continue PSU targeting 300,000 workers, it would be targetted when comes to the tourism industry, where only those who had their incomes reduced by a minimum of 30% will receive the aid.
Small and medium enterprises (SME) will be allowed to postpone income tax installments for six months until June 30 next year, with special tax exemption given to building/commercial unit owners who provide at least 30% rental discount.
Touching on the matter, Subramaniam said that hoteliers had requested the Government, in a series of meetings in the past, for the exemption on tourism tax and personal income tax relief for next year.
“We also requested for the extension of Service Tax exemption to provide more spending power to hotel patrons but it was not announced,” he noted.
However, Subramaniam said they welcomed the Penjana Tourism Financing and Rehabilitation Scheme, which could be beneficial to the hotel industry if made accessible at low or even zero interest rate.
“And we hope to get more details on the programmes as it would help if it can provide immediate funding and cash flow.
“While general tourism marketing and operational budget was not mentioned, we hope that the Government will allocate sufficient budget to promote and market Malaysia all over again as the choice destination amidst fierce competition from neighbouring countries,” he quipped.
Concrete measures needed
Subramaniam also lauded the consideration given on entertainment tax and the announced exemption of it at the federal territories will benefit a lot of people.
“And we hope the state government will also embrace this to boost tourism and the hotel industry in their respective places,” he added.
On related matter, the Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Associations (MyBHA) said that the Government should introduce effective policies to help the hotel industries and the tourism sector, in general.
“We need to pay more attention to the hotel and tourism Industry which has been affected even before the COVID-19 outbreak.
“It will take a time for us to recover even if the COVID-19 outbreak has been successfully controlled or eliminated.
“Nevertheless, we are of the view that Budget 2022 does have a positive long -term impact towards the hotel industry’s recovery,” its national deputy president Sri Ganesh Michiel remarked. – Oct 30, 2022.
