TOUR bus operators have warned that they will have no choice but to raise the prices of tour packages by up to 50% if the government fails to accord them a reasonable diesel subsidy.
Peninsular Tour Bus Operators Association president Steven Chong said that because the diesel price is now floated, it will be difficult for operators to fix the prices of their packages.
“If this week the diesel price is RM3.35 and next week it goes up, then how are we going to calculate how much to charge? We hope to get a fixed price, then we can do our calculations," he said.
"For example, if the government subsidises the fuel at RM2.50, then we will raise our prices by 5% to 10%. If it keeps going up, then we have no choice but to keep increasing the prices (depending on the current price of diesel). But the issue now is that we don’t know how much of a subsidy we will be getting."
He said the group wants to have a meeting with the Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry after Hari Raya Haji.
“Our proposal is to ask for 2,500 litres or 3,000 litres a month per bus for the diesel subsidy. But we are willing to negotiate,” Chong said.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke had said the government had no plans to include tour bus operators under the targeted diesel subsidy scheme as most of their customers were foreign tourists. He said operators could not increase prices without informing the Land Public Transport Agency.
Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Armizan Ali had said that 59,940 companies with 198,046 public and commercial transport vehicles received approval for diesel subsidy under the subsidised diesel control system.
He said the weekly retail price of unsubsidised diesel will subsequently be announced on Wednesday based on the formula, adding that for those in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, the price will remain at the subsidised rate of RM2.15.
The announcement was part of the government’s policy to reform fuel subsidies, where they will no longer be given at the pump. Instead, diesel subsidies will be given out to targeted recipients under the Bumi Madani cash scheme.
Starting 10 June, the retail diesel price at all petrol stations in the Peninsula was set at RM3.35 per litre, which is the unsubsidised market price based on the average for May 2024, according to the Automatic Pricing Mechanism formula.
Chong said the tour bus operators want to have a discussion with the relevant authorities on getting diesel subsidies for their members.
“We need to have the meeting as soon as possible as our operators are already using their money to top up for the fuel as they are not getting any subsidy. We have also already collected the money for the tour packages based on the diesel price of RM2.50 per litre. But now the price has increased. We are incurring losses of more than 30% per tour,” he said, adding the association has 150 members operating over 3,000 tour buses.
“A medium-sized company brings in about 50 to 100 groups per month, while a large company can cater for up to 200 groups per month. This is for the four to five days package tour. Medium-sized companies have about 10 to 20 buses, while a large company has more than 50 buses.”
He said the tourists are mainly from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, and a small percentage of locals.
“We usually charge an economy package of between RM800 and RM1,000 per person for a four-day tour. There are also more expensive packages,” Chong added. – June 14, 2024.
