Incentives for Mita members, affiliates to offset Tourism Tax (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) and its affiliates will get incentives and special considerations as a form of relief when the Tourism Tax is implemented on Aug 1.
Mita president Uzaidi Udanis said this had been promised by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz following a meeting between them, the Malaysia Tourism Council (MTC), Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA), Malaysian Indian Tours and Travels Association (Mitta) and other local tourist associations on Tuesday.
The meeting, he said, was conducted to address concerns of possible cancellations of contracted group tours from overseas due to the upcoming tourism tax.
"As tour operators have set their group booking contracts until March 31, 2018, the minister (Mohamed Nazri) has given his assurance that there will be incentives given to the operators to offset cancellations of inbound group bookings into the country.
"However we are yet to be informed on what sort of incentives will be provided," he told reporters during a press conference at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MaTiC), here, today.
He added that the guarantee shows that Mohamed Nazri and his ministry are really concerned about issues faced by the tourism industry players.
Meanwhile, the government is expected to collect about RM2.7 million in Tourism Tax from Chinese tourists alone from Aug 1 till year end, said Mita secretary-general Adam Kamal.
As such, Adam opined that through the incentives, tour operators would not need to spend their own money to honour contracts signed with overseas travel agencies.
"Since the contracts have already been signed, we welcome incentives in any form which would lessen costs," he added.
The Tourism Tax is regulated by the Finance Ministry and the Customs Department.
The Tourism Tax rate is fixed at RM20 per room per night (five-star), RM10 per room per night (four-star), RM5 per room per night (one-, two- and three-star), RM2.50 per room per night (one, two and three Orchid) and RM2.50 per room per night (non-rated accommodation premises).
However, tax exemption is available for "homestay" and "kampung stay" registered with the Tourism and Culture Ministry, accommodation premises established and maintained by religious institutions not for commercial purposes or accommodation premises with less than 10 rooms.
Nazri had also recently announced that the launch of the Tourism Tax may be postponed to Aug 1, as the government is not yet ready to implement it.