Amid CMCO woes, tourism groups call for new wage subsidy plan
PETALING JAYA: With the latest partial lockdown in the Klang Valley adding to their woes, hoteliers and Malaysia’s main tourism association have urged the government to take up their proposal for a two-tier wage subsidy system.
The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) said they had previously proposed the mechanism with higher subsidies for the sector since it stands to be the hardest-hit by the pandemic.
MAH chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng told FMT that the tiered system called for a 50% subsidy for employees earning up to RM4,000 and 30% for those between RM4,001 to RM8,000, adding that this system was used in Singapore, Canada, Australia and the UK.
“We need the government to first acknowledge that the tourism and hotel industry is still very weak and fragile. It is extremely sensitive to situational changes and is in no way able to sustain on its own.
“The current wage subsidy is insufficient. As of now, it is the same amount extended to other industries when in fact the tourism sector was impacted earlier, is impacted more and will recover last,” he said.
Yap said the latest conditional movement control order (CMCO) imposed on Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya meant that hotels in the Klang Valley had lost all potential customers.
He added that the ban on interstate travel for the region would see a big chunk of business taken away from vacation hotspots in other states, while another blow for Klang Valley hotels was the restrictions on events and meetings at the premises.
“But above all, the CMCO in these three regions is also sending a strong message throughout, that Malaysia is struggling to contain the spread, that most (people) would just postpone or put off travel plans entirely,” he said.
He said MAH had also requested Putrajaya to extend and increase the electricity discounts for tourism stakeholders, as well as to review the mechanism of the targeted loan moratorium.
The current scheme, he said, gives commercial banks the control with most of them offering restructuring exercises that impose more interests, adding that this would leave stakeholders with higher debts.
“Initially we targeted mid-2021 as the beginning of the recovery period (for the tourism sector), but looking at the current situation and further delays on the reopening of international borders, we will not likely see any signs of recovery till the end of 2021.”
‘Look for other ways instead of lockdowns’
Matta president Tan Kok Liang echoed Yap, saying the industry needed the tiered system to survive and to retain employees.
Tan also said Putrajaya should start thinking of other ways to mitigate the pandemic rather than implementing lockdowns.
He told FMT that stricter enforcement and greater public education would be better, as the threat of lockdowns would dampen economic activity.
“It is frustrating that this happened when domestic tourism was just beginning to pick up. With restrictions on inter-district travel, the demand for leisure travel has greatly plummeted.
“Without further financial aid and moratorium extension from the government, it’s only a matter of time before most travel operators close down.” - FMT
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