THE Tourism Ministry will give incentives to tourism associations, who will pass them on to operators who have to absorb the new tourism tax from pre-booked tours, the Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) said today.

Its president, Uzaidi Udanis, said Mita had a discussion with Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz on the matter on Tuesday, and the incentives would include cash and non-cash assistance.

Operators under Mita stand to lose RM2.7 million from China tourists who had made bookings for trips this year after the tax kicks off on August 1, he said. These bookings covered trips until March 31 next year.

“Mita and our associates will have to absorb the tourism tax so we had a meeting with Nazri and he agreed to give us incentives to soften the burden, which could be in the form of vouchers or other discounts,” Uzaid said, adding that details were being finalised, such as how the association would pass on the incentives.

“The objective of our meeting was to get a better understanding of the issues that will affect Mita. Most of our members are inbound tour operators and they are concerned about the impact of the tourism tax,” he said at a press conference at the Malaysian Tourism Centre (MaTiC) in Kuala Lumpur.

Mita has about 1,500 agents nationwide, which include tour operators, travel agents and tour guides. 

Uzaid said other associations affected include the Malaysia Tourism Council, Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association and Malaysia Indian Tourism Association.

The tax was set to be enforced on July 1, but was deferred to August 1.

Malaysians will be required to pay RM20 for five-star and RM15 for four-star accommodations, chargeable on a per room, per night basis. Locals will be exempt from the tax for hotels rated three stars and below. 

Foreign tourists will be charged the same rates for the high-end hotels, as well as RM10 for three-star, RM5 for two-star and RM2.50 for non-rated accommodation per room, per night.

Nazri, who tabled the  tourism tax bill in April, said the government stood to collect RM654.62 million through the tax. – July 6, 2017.