A recent survey by the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) displayed the crippling losses suffered by the hotel industry, due to the total lockdown imposed, with 63% of its workers on unpaid leave. 120 out of 320 hotels surveyed have closed down with average occupancy rate running less than 20%.
The PN government’s 8 economic stimulus packages amounting to RM530 billion failed the tourism industry which lost RM100 billion last year and is expected to record huge losses this year. The latest Pemulih package offering a paltry RM 16 million in assistance in the form of one-off RM3,000 to tourist agencies, just shows that the current Tourism Minister is missing and how much financial assistance the tourism industry is missing out from the PN government.
The other sectors of the tourism industry, such as hospitality and restaurant business are also badly affected and will have to wait for at least another year for some form of recovery. Offering loans is meaningless when there is no revenue or business available due to the current lockdowns. What is needed is financial grants or measures to help them to defray costs.
The tourism industry is too important to either ignore or abandon without any concerted financial assistance. According to the Department of Statistics, the Gross Value Added of Tourism Industries (GVATI) has recorded a contribution of 15.9 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounting to RM240 billion.
If Prime Minister Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yasin has run out of ideas on how to help the tourism industry, then the least he could do is to double the wage subsidy programme for all its workers, offer interest-free bank loan moratorium, rental subsidies and business grants. Whilst we can argue on the quantum to be given, the problem is that if none is offered, none will be expected to survive.