Budget 2023: National tourism promotion needs to involve various parties

Budget 2023: National tourism promotion needs to involve various parties

KUALA LUMPUR: The allocation of RM200 million through the 2023 Budget for the purpose of encouragement, promotion and marketing, as well as strengthening the recovery of the tourism sector needs to be used creatively by industry players to attract more tourists to Malaysia, subsequently making repeat visits.

For that purpose, senior lecturer of the Department of Recreation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia Associate Prof Dr Siti Suriawati Isa said the responsible agency must involve various parties to design robust promotional and marketing activities.

“This involvement does not only involve one or two agencies, but needs to be more comprehensive involving many parties from various backgrounds, especially academics and non-governmental organizations.

“In addition, the promotion and marketing of tourism for Malaysia also needs to be more focused on countries that are not the main contributors to the main tourist market to this country such as the United States and Canada, in this way we can also increase the number of foreign tourists apart from countries that used to visit our countries like Indonesia and Japan,” he said .

He said the foreign tourist arrival target exceeded 15 million with an income value of RM47.6 billion set by the government for 2023, understood to involve the majority of tourists from countries that used to visit Malaysia such as Indonesia.

In the meantime, Siti Suriawati praised the incentives provided by the government in the form of discounts, vouchers and rebates for accommodation, travel packages, handicrafts and works of art up to RM100, which are seen to encourage Malaysians to travel within the country.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz when presenting the 2023 Budget in the Dewan Rakyat on Friday, announced an allocation of RM1.16 billion to manage and develop the tourism, arts and culture sector including RM200 million for the recovery of the tourism sector for encouragement, promotion and marketing and RM90 million for the Tourism Promotion Matching Grant (GAMELAN), which involves a promotion and marketing campaign with the industry.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (MATTA) President Datuk Tan Kok Liang said the provision of incentives, funds and grants will help revive the industry, especially domestic tourism, thereby improving the country’s economy gradually.

He said the 100 percent tax exemption on statutory income for tour operators who bring at least 200 foreign tourists a year or handle at least 400 local tourists, encourages tourism companies to focus on the domestic sector.

“Through the tax exemption offer to tourism operators we see that it gives them many advantages. They can not only attract tourists but at the same time can enjoy the tax exemption based on the conditions set,” he told reporters after the opening ceremony of MATTA Fair Melaka, yesterday.

In addition, Tan said the provision of incentives of up to RM100 in the form of discounts, vouchers and rebates to encourage Malaysian families to travel within the country, has a positive impact on the domestic tourism sector by reducing the burden of expenses, especially for those with large families or traveling in groups.

Malaysian Tourism Association (MITA) president Uzaidi Udanis said the government’s initiative to propose a special tax deduction for hotels that purchase local handicraft products with a purchase cost of up to RM500,000 will indirectly benefit local handicraft entrepreneurs.

“The time has come for our hospitality industry to highlight local handcraft products, especially in terms of interior decoration of the hotel itself. For example, we have many products based on batik fabric and they can be used as tablecloths, wall decorations and so on.

“It would be more interesting if the hotel could establish a special stall selling local handicraft products, this is also one of the ways for us to help promote our people’s products. Therefore, the hotel needs to seize the special tax deduction offered by the government,” he said.

source – BERNAMA

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