Local tourists as good as foreign visitors – Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: It is not about how much the government is charging locals for the tourism tax but the fact that there is even an increase in the hotel rates has already deterred local tourists from travelling within the country.

Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said this when commenting on the recent announcement regarding tourism tax exemption for Malaysians.

“I have already commented on this issue. Sabah and Sarawak’s stand is still the same and we welcome the government’s decision to exempt locals from the tourism tax,” Masidi said at the launching ceremony of the Smart Hero Jet Boat at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort yesterday.

Masidi contended that both Sabah and Sarawak rely on the tourism industry to generate revenue.

If the tourism tax were to be implemented, it would affect the arrival of tourists to the State as the tourism industry is a very ‘sensitive’ industry, Masidi stressed.

“It is not about how much the government charges for the tax. That is not the issue.

“The minute there is an increase in the price, it will be a constraint to the tourists,” Masidi said.

He added that not everyone who lives in a hotel are tourists.

Some of them could be students, workers or they could just be looking for a place to live in while they meet their family members, Masidi asserted.

He reiterated that the domestic tourism industry had always been effective in boosting the growth of the country.

Masidi said local tourists were just as good as foreign tourists, in which he explained the locals also form a big chunk of the tourism industry’s revenue.

“Even in time of financial difficulties, the locals still did not stop traveling around the country.

“In a way, this has helped the country maintain a healthy economic state,” Masidi said.

Thus, Masidi hoped that relevant measures would be taken to encourage more locals traveling domestically.

Recently, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz announced that Malaysians would be exempted from paying tourism tax for all types of hotels and accommodation premises.

Nazri explained that the tourism tax would instead only be imposed on foreign tourists staying at all types of accommodation premises, at the rate of RM10 per room per night.

He said that the move served as a valid proof that the government had always been receptive to the wishes of the people.