Tour operators seek govt aid to stay afloat

OPERATORS of inbound Chinese tours have been hard hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, with thousands of scheduled tours being cancelled, resulting in hundreds of millions of ringgit in revenue loss.

Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association (Mica) has appealed to the government for assistance to help these operators stay afloat, the Chinese press highlighted yesterday.

Describing the negative impact of the novel coronavirus which broke out in Wuhan, China, last month as worse than the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak, Mica president Datuk Angie Ng said at a press conference on Wednesday that these trying times can last between six and nine months.

She said this month alone, some 3,000 inbound tours have been cancelled and another 2,000 tour groups have called off trips scheduled for March.

On an average of 25 visitors per tour group, with each visitor spending about RM3,500, the loss in revenue would total more than RM400 million, she said.

Those involved in inbound

Chinese tours need government assistance so when the sector recovers, there will be manpower and facilities to meet the needs.

Ng appealed to the government for soft loans and tax exemptions for those in the tour and hotel industries. She also requested that Bank Negara Malaysia direct banks to go easy on loan repayments.

She said support for domestic tourism packages under the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia initiative will reduce the revenue loss from inbound tour cancellations by 30% to 40%.

Ng urged Malaysians to take advantage of these discounts currently offered (by tour operators and hotels) by visiting local destinations instead of vacationing abroad.