MAH in the meeting presented a series of proposals ranging from economic stimuluses to cash
flow support and assistance for the hotel and tourism industry.
“We are happy that both the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Tourism, were receptive
of our ideas, particularly on easing industry stakeholders’ cash flow constraints. The Ministers
openly expressed willingness to consider temporary suspension of certain mandatory
contributions by tourism employers, as well as to introduce a personal tax relief for individual
Malaysians traveling within the country in 2020,” said Yap Lip Seng, Chief Executive Officer
of MAH.
“We are also looking forward to the Minister of Finance’s review to reduce the rate of the
Tourism Tax, as an incentive to encourage international tourist arrivals, and possibly a
temporary exemption of Service Tax for hotels as part of the Visit Malaysia Year’s initiative
to counter the negative impact so far,” Yap added.
Industry stakeholders were particularly elated when Bank Negara expressed positivity for
commercial banks and financial institutions to restructure and reschedule loans or hire purchase
contracts for the tourism industry. It was recorded that commercial banks within its own
jurisdiction are able to offer moratorium from three to six months to its customers.
The general consensus in the meeting is to ensure industry survival during this period, and to
retain Malaysia’s tourism capacity and capability, geared for recovery, hopefully by the third
quarter of 2020.
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*Attached MAH’s proposal to the Ministry of Finance
If you require any other information pertaining to the hotel industry, statistics, industry
concerns or any other related subjects, please do not hesitate to contact the Chief Executive
Officer of MAH, Yap Lip Seng at ceo@hotels.org.my or +6012 280 0300.