KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) hopes that the upcoming Budget 2022 will be “generous” towards the tourism industry with specific and targeted assistance especially for the tour operators and travel agencies who have been a main contributor and catalyst to the development of the tourism industry.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said rehabilitating tourism businesses involved providing soft loans for the companies to rebuild an infrastructure that had collapsed, staff retention, retraining and providing support to meet consumers’ expectations and Malaysia’s competitiveness as a preferred destination in this region.
“Due to the pandemic, current tourism strategies will be local before global. As such Budget 2022 should focus on providing travel stimulus packages and tax incentives for personal and corporate travel.
“Given the limitations of domestic tourism, the government must fast-track the framework and travel solutions to expedite opening the border for international tourists,” he said in a statement today.
Tan said MATTA had submitted its proposals and wish list to the Finance Ministry for Budget 2022 to urgently help a critically injured economic sector and the stakeholders involved in it.
The travel association had urged the Finance Ministry to set up a “Tourism Recovery & Growth Fund” to provide financial support to all stakeholders and private sector companies in the tourism industry to restart, revive, sustain and grow their respective sectors now and into the future.
The fund should provide at least RM5 billion for a start, as a soft loan facility, with 1.0 per cent interest and a repayment period of seven years.
MATTA also informed the government that the revival of the tourism industry needs a clear strategic roadmap for the reopening of international borders with set regulations and travel safe protocol.
The association said while domestic travel is important, it is insufficient to sustain the overall tourism industry.
MATTA also called for an extension of the wage subsidy programmes from Oct 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022 while waiting for international tourist arrivals into Malaysia.
