A one-off special reward of RM1,000 each has been channeled by the Selangor government to 553 tourism industry players in the state affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

State Tourism, Environment and Green Technology, and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman, Hee Loy Sian said the special incentive involved an allocation of RM553,000 provided via the Selangor Economic Recovery Plan.

Of the total recipients, he said, 486 were tourist guides under the Selangor Tourist Guides Association, 16 homestay operators registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac), and 51 Selangor community hosts.

 “It is hoped this incentive could (help) ease their burden from losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said at a press conference after attending the presentation ceremony of the incentive here, today.

At the same time, Hee said, RM2 million was allocated as a tourism voucher through the recovery plan to draw individuals nationally to make Selangor their destination of choice for holidays.

He said the project was scheduled to be launched in the middle of next month as an attempt by the state government to help players in the tourism sector revitalize the industry.

"Each voucher has a value of RM200. We're going to send it to locals who would like to fly to Selangor. For the gain of local visitors, we plan to distribute 10,000 vouchers.

Only in this state may this tourism voucher be used, since we want to attract tourists from other states to vacation here as well. We will submit a list of locations during the launch where the voucher can be redeemed,' he said.