The government will be carrying out several initiatives targeted at stimulating the tourism sector under the Economic Stimulus Package 2020. These include RM100 travel vouchers for Malaysian citizens and a personal income tax relief of up to RM1,000 for domestic travel.

Each Malaysian citizen will be given a digital voucher worth RM100 for use on domestic travel in the country. According to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the voucher can be used on domestic flights, train travel, and stays in licensed hotels in the country. The government will also be provided a matching grant to promote tourism. A total of RM500 million has been allocated for this initiative.

To further encourage domestic travel in the country, a personal income tax relief of up to RM1,000 has been announced for domestic travel expenses. Lastly, the government will also be lifting the limitations on the use of hotels for government agencies.

In addition, the Government is also exempting the 6% service tax for hotels from March to August 2020. This means that Malaysians will save an extra 6% from their final bill when staying at domestic hotels.

The spread of the Covid-19 virus has hit the tourism industry of Malaysia hard and it is hoped that these efforts will go some way towards increasing the demand for local tourism amongst Malaysians.

• TAGS:
• Covid-19
• Domestic Travel
• Economic Stimulus Package 2020
• Travel Industry
• Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad