‘Departure levy will deter potential tourists’
SIBU: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah believes there would definitely be negative effect on the tourism industry in Malaysia with the imposition of the departure levy.
He said any increase in cost would be a deterrent to would-be tourists coming to the country.
He, however, added that how bad it will affect tourist arrival has yet to be seen.
Abdul Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, was asked to comment on Institute of Malaysian and International Studies director Prof Dr Sufian Jusoh’s statement that the implementation of the departure levy on all passengers departing Malaysian airports was expected to affect tourist arrivals.
Sufian reportedly said a study conducted by the Australian Productivity Commission found that every 10 per cent hike in airport charges will cause a reduction in traffic by 1.2 per cent.
He was further quoted as saying that the passenger service charge (PSC) imposed at airports is about RM73, hence, Malaysia will see a drop in passengers of six per cent or two million tourists if the departure levy of 50 per cent or RM40 is imposed on destinations other than Asean countries.
In response, Abdul Karim reiterated: “I believe there would definitely be some effect on the tourism industry in Malaysia with the imposition of the departure levy.
“Tourism is a competitive industry with countries spending millions in promotional programmes to encourage tourists to come to their countries.”
He said a good example is Asean countries where each country in Asean are giving many incentives and attractive packages to would be tourists from China, Europe, Japan, Korea among others, to entice them to come to their countries.
“Any increase in cost would be a deterrent to tourists coming to Malaysia. How bad it will affect tourist arrival has yet to be seen. If there is a big increase in tourist arrivals in neighbouring countries and a small increase or even a decrease in tourist arrivals when the levy is imposed...would reflect how bad the impact of this levy,” he said.
It was reported that during the tabling of the 2019 Federal Budget, the government had proposed to impose a departure levy on all air travellers leaving the country from June 1, 2019, in an effort to encourage the development of domestic tourism.
It was also reported that the levy is set at RM20 per head for those departing to any of the Asean countries and RM40 to other countries.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Anthony Loke has been quoted as saying that the government is studying the best mechanism before the departure levy on all outbound air travellers is implemented.
He reportedly said the government had not finalised whether it would be added on to the passenger service charge or collected by the Customs or Immigration Department.