GEORGE TOWN – Travel agents have expressed disappointment as Budget 2022 fails to state how the government will help them continue their businesses after being emaciated due to the almost total absence of travellers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Active Dynamic Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd director Lim Yon Hong said the Budget did not specify how the deeply affected travel agents would benefit.
He said travel industry players expected more from the Budget to revive the industry.
“What we need now is solid cash to revive businesses. The industry was almost in zero operations for the last 18 months.
“The government should have specifically announced grants or interest-free loans for badly hit travel agencies to restart their businesses,” he said.
“There was no clear statement from the finance minister on how the RM85 million allocation will help generate and boost travel agencies.”
Lim, who runs a travel and tour agency in Seberang Jaya, said this after the tabling of Budget 2022 by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in Parliament last Friday.
Tengku Zafrul announced that 20,000 tourism operators registered under the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry will receive a special financial assistance of RM85 million for a period of three months.
In totality, the Budget 2022 announcement saw the travel and tourism industry allocated a total of RM1.6 billion to help it get back on its feet.
Lim, however, supported the government’s decision to extend the RM1,000 personal tax relief until December next year for domestic travellers, saying it would boost local tourism.
Another tour agency operator, Eric Tang from here, also shared his disappointment as he, too, expected some goodies to boost travel agencies and their return to business.
“Many had closed their operations and retrenched their staff after the extended movement control order in the last 18 months,” he said.
“Staff who left the industry are now in the manufacturing sector and are reluctant to come back as it pays better than tourism.”
Tour guide P.C. Chin said local travellers will not help much in shoring up the tourism sector as they were also hard hit by the pandemic and, therefore, it is doubtful how much they are able to spend.
“Our main revenue comes from foreign tourists, hence, the government needs to open the country’s borders for international travellers to come here and spend,” she said.
“Something has to be done to attract back foreign travellers for us to return to the pre-Covid-19 era.”
She added that international cruises that dock in Penang with their international passengers would also help bolster the tourism sector.
“However, I did not see anything special in the Budget that would directly benefit travel agencies to boost the industry,” she said. – The Vibes, November 1, 2021
