Government advised focusing on the tourism sector in the next economic stimulus package

By TIN Media | Tourism Malaysia Published 3 years ago on 26 May 2020
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KUALA LUMPUR:

The government is advised to focus on the affected sectors, especially the tourism sector in planning the next economic stimulus plan in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Economic analyst Dr Madeline Berma said it was to prevent the hotel from having to close its operations within six months following a pandemic that hit the country.

“I am one of those individuals who feel that the government needs to implement stimulus packages especially for the most impacted sectors.

“It includes the entertainment sector, logistics and hospitality services. Indeed, a stimulus package needs to be introduced, ”he told Astro AWANI on Sunday.

Former President of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Halim Merican said that 20 per cent of the 1,200 hotels under MAH faced action to completely shut down or postpone operations.

This in turn affected the 6,000 workers in the industry who had to be laid off or take unpaid leave over a period of time.

According to Madeline, the figure is only part of the real number because it only considers large-scale hotels.

"It's just a tip of the iceberg" because it only includes large-scale hotels.

"Small-scale hotels like one-star hotels are down, if anything, they can't operate," he added.

On May 2, Minister of Finance, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, said the short-term and medium-term economic recovery plan comprising all the donors is expected to be announced later this month.


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