It’s wise to let states handle tourism

THE tagline “Malaysia, Truly Asia” is well-known to most Malaysians and has caught the attention of international visitors. It’s arguably one of the most successful tourism-related slogans created, in this instance by Tourism Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia’s campaigns and videos have garnered a multitude of awards internationally too. For many, tourism in Malaysia is synonymous with the agency.

So it must have come as a huge shock when Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz announced on Jan 23, that the Ministry had closed all its offices in the states.

This follows his statement earlier in the month that offices in New York, Perth, Stockholm (Sweden) and Johannesburg (South Africa) would be closed this year.

Tourism Malaysia would, however, focus on other offices in Europe and open new ones in China and India.

One reason for the closing down of the offices at state level is to avoid duplication and overlap. Each state has its own tourism unit and, as Nazri noted, the respective state Economic Planning Units are also focused on tourism.

He added that tourism should be left to the states to manage.

It is not a concept that is alien. In Australia, the six states and two territories have been running their tourism efforts successfully on their own for quite some time.

Each of the states has offices with- in its own territories and pursues its own tourism campaigns and efforts independently.

Tourism Australia complements their efforts internationally and, whenever needed, domestically. This model has been carried out successfully. This is about the same concept that Nazri has in mind for Malaysia.

The respective state governments and the Federal government have to work hand-in-hand to ensure that the target of 36 million tourist arrivals in 2020 is met. There is no room for political differences if the target is to be achieved.

It does not matter which party is managing the state as long as measures to attract more tourists are put in place. At the end of the day, the entire country benefits from the influx of tourism.

The hospitality and tourism industry was the sixth largest Gross Domestic Product contributor to the national economy in 2015, underlining its importance. Last year, revenue from tourism was targeted at RM103bil.

The closure of the tourism offices, according to Nazri, would save the Government at least RM6mil a year. When the national coffers need to be tightened, we have to dig in our heels for the hard times ahead.

Hence, any savings in expenditure would be consistent with the Government’s efforts to cut down its spending.

The national debt, as of June last year, stood at 53.2% of the GDP. The Government has set its sights on reducing expenditure and cutting its Federal budget deficit to 3% of the economy this year. A reduction in the deficit would help further improve Malaysia’s credit ratings.

Also, the closure of the offices at state levels should pave the way towards a more coordinated approach to promoting Malaysia. Each state will have to forge ahead with its own set of ideas and endeavours.

Private stakeholders, too, should seize this opportunity to work more closely with the states they are in, and form smart partnerships to complement such efforts. After all, each state now has more say over its own tourism matters. And they should know best.