THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) has urged the government to engage with tourism stakeholders before imposing the departure levy. 

Its president, Tan Kok Liang, said the government needed to do a more in-depth study on the levy, especially when the Visit Malaysia 2020 is only six months ahead.

“With all the aggressive promotion, the tourism industry should achieve the target (for the Visit Malaysia 2020), but the departure levy will definitely deter it,” he said after signing a memorandum of understanding with four e-hailing companies to use Matta-registered transport via the e-hailing platform.

He said the government should look into a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which projected the levy would negatively impact the airline industry.

“We are not saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the departure levy, but have asked the government to study its implications,” he added.

Tan also argued that the levy would not curb interest in overseas travel and stimulate domestic tourism.

“Do you think people will stop going to Europe just because of the departure levy and instead decide to travel domestically? I don’t think so. It will not boost domestic tourism much,” he said.

The Departure Levy Bill 2019 was passed in Parliament on April 10, for implementation on June 1, before it was deferred to September 1.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi in Parliament this week said his ministry wanted implementation to be delayed until after Visit Malaysia 2020. 

Tourism Malaysia has projected the Visit Malaysia 2020 to bring in 30 million international tourists and RM100 billion in tourist receipts to the country. – Bernama, July 12, 2019.