PETALING JAYA: Nigel Wong, President of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), has called for increased allocations for tourism in Budget 2024, with a focus on promoting legal tourism businesses and cracking down on unlicensed operators.
Wong emphasized the need for at least RM1 billion to be allocated towards promotions, product development, tourist incentives, and extending matching grant programs such as the Malaysian Tourism Incentive Fund (Gamelan) and Tourism Sector Matching Grant (GSSP). These allocations would enable industry stakeholders to participate in trade shows and programs aimed at attracting foreign tourists to the country.
In addition, Wong suggested that funding for tourism infrastructure development and operating budgets for the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and Tourism Malaysia should be kept separate.
The MATTA president also highlighted the importance of updating and modernizing regulations and enforcement under the Tourism Industry Act to ensure that legal tourism operators can remain competitive despite the increasing number of unlicensed businesses in the industry.
Wong expressed the hope for more allocations towards the active enforcement of the Act, especially targeting illegal or unlicensed entities that have proliferated. These include unlicensed travel agents and tour operators, illegal accommodation providers, and unlicensed transport operators, whose numbers have reportedly grown since the resurgence of the tourism industry in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Budget 2023, only RM1.2 billion, equivalent to 0.31% of the total RM372.3 billion allocation, was allocated to the Ministry.
As a result, the ministry’s allocation in Budget 2023 was the third smallest.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
