THE RM3,000 one-off aid for tour operators under the Pemulih package is insufficient for a sector that has already recorded huge losses, DAP said.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng called the amount “paltry” and showed how the tourism industry is missing out on government assistance.

“The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s eight economic stimulus packages amounting to RM530 billion have 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 RM16 million in assistance in the form of one-off RM3,000 to tourist agencies,” Lim, who is former finance minister, said.

The industry, which contributes 15.9% or RM240 billion to Malaysia’s GDP according to the Statistics Department, needs more urgent assistance as the RM3,000 will only be disbursed when the country is in Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan.

Phase Three can only be implemented when the number of Covid-19 cases falls below 2,000 daily, 40% of the population is fully vaccinated and ICU-bed availability is “sufficient”.

Daily cases now, however, are above 10,000 even though the rate of vaccination is picking up. Active cases are also at a record high at over 128,997 as of yesterday.

“The tourism industry is too important to either ignore or abandon without any concerted financial assistance.

“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,” said Lim.

He added that other sectors linked to the tourism industry, such as hospitality and restaurant business, are also badly affected.

“They 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 are financial grants or measures to help them to defray costs.”

An estimated 63% of workers in the hotel industry have been put on unpaid leave, while 120 out of 320 hotels surveyed have closed down with the average occupancy rate running at less than 20%, Lim added, citing figures from a survey by the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH). – July 20, 2021.