Tan to vie for Matta presidency
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) president Datuk Seri Winston Liaw urged the tourism industry to give full support to Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Vice President of Inbound and Domestic Datuk KL Tan in contesting for the national president’s position during the Matta annual general meeting (AGM) in Kuala Lumpur on July 15.
“For the past eight years, Tan has engaged both the local and federal governments on pertinent issues affecting members amongst which are the exemption on inbound tours, exemption on excise and import duty on imported tourism vehicles, funding and incentives on technology implementation, double deduction and grants for tourism training.”
Liaw said Tan had also taken the lead during the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to resolve technical issues and GST treatment with the Royal Malaysian Customs, co-authoring the book ‘GST Navigator for the Travel Industry’ as part of the latter’s service to Matta members.
As such, Liaw hoped that the industry players would render their support to Tan in vying for the national president’s post in Matta.
Team Malaysia headed by Tan pledges to create more opportunities for Matta members both big and small to grow their business and to weather the coming storm of financial changes and uncertainties if the team is elected.
In his presidential candidate foreword, Tan said he, as the current Matta Vice President of Inbound and Domestic (2013-2017), has created business opportunities for members through various sales missions both overseas and locally and other related activities for members’ benefits.
“I am also aware of the many challenges faced nationwide from thinning profit margins due to changes in business models, consumer booking preferences, high operating costs, currency fluctuations, shortage of skilled personnel, transportation issues, Umrah licensing issues and illegal tour operations which I will place much more emphasis on eradicating this coming term.”
Tan said he is also in a working committee together with the Sabah and Sarawak state governments to request for a deferment of the Tourism Tax Bill 2017, exemptions for certain categories of hotels as well as for domestic travelers.
“We are seeking clarification on key issues in the Bill to ensure that the tourism industry benefits as a whole. Other pertinent challenges that need to be addressed is the Payment Card Industry Data Security (PCI-DSS) compliance and the impact of digital disruption on our businesses,” Tan said in his message.
He pledged to also be actively looking into technology solutions for the inbound and transportation sectors that will benefit the association’s entire membership given that almost every member holds an Inbound license and may own and operate tourism vehicles.
Matta is the national umbrella representative body for the entire travel industry in the country. With a full-time secretariat at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Matta has state chapters in Kedah, Penang, Perak, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Selangor, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.