The hotel industry is hoping for some good news from the government to allow them to get over the Covid-19 period. While welcoming the government's initiatives under the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package to help Malaysians lighten the Covid-19 impact, the Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MyBHA) is now seeking assistance for struggling hoteliers.

Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MyBHA) deputy president Dr Sri Ganesh Michiel said the association hoped that the government would review and introduce additional measures catering for those in the hotel industry. MyBHA is the independent body for all budget hotels, categorized as three-star and below in the country, and has some 2,500 members consisting of hotel owners or their representatives.

 Dr Sri Ganesh Michiel said in a statement today, "We hope they will look into several aspects including offering Employees Provident Fund discounts (employer contribution) as hoteliers are currently facing a steep drop in business. A higher discount rate on electricity bills will certainly be good news as electricity is the biggest utility expense for hotel operations.

"The local authorities can provide some relief by exempting the assessment tax (cukai taksiran) payment for the second half of 2020(between July and December) for all hotels. Assistance from the government during these needy times will certainly be a huge relief for hoteliers nationwide,".

"The announcement has certainly given some breathing space to those in the tourism industry especially budget hotel operators to plan and look into their business which had been affected by the pandemic.

"However, we hope the government will look into other aspects and introduce a specially tailored package for those in the tourism industry. As we know, it would require a long time before the hotel industry can return to its usual business," he said.