A TOTAL of 204 tourism-related enterprises have closed down in Malaysia, between March and October, due the economic downturn and the movement control order (MCO) triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the Dewan Rakyat, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said 109 of them were hotels, resorts, motels, homestays and chalets.
“The balance 95 were travel agencies and those dealing with other tourism-related activities,” she said.
The Batang Sadong MP was responding to a question from Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (BN-Machang).
Nancy added that some of these establishments were closed due to winding-up orders by the court and the rest were done voluntarily.
Earlier, Bernama reported the minister as saying that 135 new licences has been approved for tourism-related businesses during the same period mentioned.
“The Government provides financing facilities, such as the Tourism Structure Fund through Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd and the Tourism Special Fund managed by SME Bank,” she said.
Currently, Nancy said, the Government still has an unused allocation of RM30 mil and RM200 mil provided under Budget 2021.
“The National Security Council has also approved a travel bubble for green zone areas, and it is one of our efforts to revive the tourism economy,” she said. –Nov 23, 2020
