MATTA hopes for tourism recovery with Budget 2021

THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is calling for the government to bolster a floundering Malaysian tourism industry through the upcoming Budget 2021 announcement.

“The tourism industry is fragile and sensitive for 2021 and likely beyond because of the critical impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Budget 2021 must provide solid relief programmes and substantial spending to stimulate the economy and livelihood of the people,” MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said in a statement released today.

“The Budget 2021 must then be reviewed periodically given the unprecedented global changes happening all around us,” he added.

He also stresses that the government should focus on protecting the jobs and businesses of the people through a more effective wage subsidy programme and moratorium extension (at least until June 2021), among other relief support.

“The current measures rolled out to provide temporary relief such as the Penjana Tourism Financing (PTF) and related facilities are not effective as prudent SMEs are cautious on future repayments during this period of uncertainty,” Tan said.

“As for an effective wage subsidy programme, MATTA is in agreement with the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) on a proposed two-tiered wage subsidy system which specifically calls on the Government to provide a 50% subsidy for employees earning up to RM4,000 and 30% for those between RM4,001 to RM8,000. The wage subsidy programe should also be extended till at least June 2021,” he suggested.

In addition, he also suggests for a special personal income tax relief of RM8,000 per person to incentivise domestic travel, tax reliefs for business and individuals, tax holiday for individuals, sales tax reduction or exemption to encourage consumer spending and a reduction in corporate tax income for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

Other reliefs suggested include a 100% exemption for import and excise duty, allowing the importing of CBU coaches and higher-end tourism vehicles, extending tax incentives granted for inbound and domestic tour companies to 2023, extending the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) levy exemption to December 2020 and a bigger budget for upgrading tourism infrastructure.

Tan also said that in 2019, Malaysia received 26.1 million foreign tourists with a revenue of RM89.4 bil exceeding the exports of palm oil at RM70 bil and rubber gloves at RM22 bil.

Inbound tourism is one of our most lucrative exports and with restrictions on travel in place, these exports and foreign revenues have disappeared, affecting the tourism sub sectors value chain especially SMEs.

“Given the limitations of domestic tourism, we strongly urge the Government to gradually reopen our international borders in Q1 2021 starting with ASEAN countries to help sustain our tourism industry, just like many other countries are now doing,” he added. – Oct 29, 2020

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