Abolish tourism tax to spur tourist arrivals, urges association

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) wants the Government to abolish the tourism tax to spur tourist arrivals.

Its president Cheah Swee Hee said this would also help regulate services of bodies like Airbnb.

“We got to find a solution to that. It has to be fair to everybody. At the moment with a flat rate, we are not encouraging long stays because you are charging customers every night.

“So, they (hoteliers) are finding a solution to that,” he said after meeting the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) here yesterday.

Under the tourism tax which came into effect last Sept 1, foreign tourists are charged a flat rate of RM10 per night per room, with locals and permanent residents exempted.

Cheah said MAH and CEP also discussed making KLIA a greater travel hub, and touched on the minimum wage of RM1,500 proposed by the new government.

“On the minimum wage, the hotel sector is unique. We already have the service charge as part of staff income, but because of the (minimum wage) regulations that mention basic salary, it makes the income earned by people (working) in the hotel sector seem to be very little,” he said.

On Airbnb, an American company which operates an online marketplace and hospitality service for people to lease or rent shortterm lodging, Cheah said there should be the “right regulation” for it.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, who also met the CEP, said the Government had no objection to the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) under the KLIA Aeropolis project.

He said he briefed Transport Minister Anthony Loke last week on the DFTZ project, which was a deal between two private companies involving the airport operator and China’s Ali Baba Group.

“The minister will soon receive the latest update from the aviation industry and he is aware of it. So far, there seems to be no objection but he wants to study the details.

“As far as we are concerned, the project is still ongoing,” he told reporters.

The CEP met with various key tourism and aviation players yesterday.

The KLIA Aeropolis DFTZ Park, dubbed the world’s first eworld trade platform, is slated to be fully operational in the third quarter of 2020.

It will encompass 1.2 million sq ft of gross floor area for a cargo terminal, sorting centre, warehouse and operations office.