The Impact of Covid-19 on Selangor’s Tourism Industry
Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon severe impacts on service
and business industries on a global scale, and the tourism industry is
undeniably one of the most-affected. There are at least 3 hotels in Selangor
which have ceased operations, while some choose to put their operations
on-hold. Hotel occupancy rates are expected to reflect only at 40% and the
remaining hotels post Covid-19 have to brace operating without profits until
the end of the year.
Tourism is a prominent industry with Selangor itself
managed to record a total of 7.62 million tourist arrivals in 2019; a 5%
increase from the previous year. According to the official 2019 Domestic
Tourism Survey Report from Department of Statistics, Malaysia, Selangor was
ranked first in regard to the total of domestic tourist arrivals with a
staggering 33.6 million arrivals, followed by Kuala Lumpur (22.6 million),
Sabah (22 million), Perak (21.1 million) and Sarawak (19.8 million).
“Reset Tourism”
The Selangor State Government through its official
Tourism Promotion Board, Tourism Selangor is pulling-off a gear-five in
rebuilding the tourism industry post Covid-19 with the “Reset Tourism” vision
and notion. Some of the initiatives include the execution of the Domestic
Tourism Campaign, “Pusing Selangor Dulu” which gives emphasis on the
domestic market following the official announcement by the Ministry of Tourism,
Arts and Culture (MOTAC) on June 10th on the re-opening of domestic
tourism.
Some of the initiatives to foster the Campaign include
optimum utilisation of the digital platform and social media sites,
collaboration with local and international Media for Media FAM Trip programmes,
cooperation with tourism industry players to promote travel discounts and
promotions, outdoor billboard and unipole Out-of-Home advertising, the
development of new interesting travel packages, and the execution of tourism
events with the scale and capacity set and permitted by Majlis Keselamatan
Negara (MKN).
Incentives and Post Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Package
Dato’ Seri Amirudin
Shari, Dato’ Menteri Besar Selangor on July 13th has announced the State’s
2020 Economic Recovery Plan with a massive tag amounting RM 55.85 billion. The
Third Phase to the Economic Package announced on Monday which includes three
major components; food security, economic sustainability and capacity building
aims to mitigate the challenges caused by the pandemic.
“The Movement Control Order (MCO) has caused a severe
impact on Selangor’s tourism industry, and the effects are significant to
industry players, including hotel and homestay operators, theme parks,
airlines, cruise companies and travel agencies. In the effort to rebuild the
State’s economy, we have to work hand-in-hand to foster domestic tourism in
Selangor, towards highlighting Selangor as a safe travel destination to many”,
Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said while announcing the Package at the Selangor
Legislative Assembly, sitting on Monday.
“The Selangor State Government has agreed to offer a
tourism voucher subsidy worth RM 2 million to be of use at hotel premises,
theme parks, and licensed homestays registered with Selangor’s local authority.
The State Government has also agreed to approve a one-off special incentive of RM
1,000 to tourist guides, homestay operators and Selangor Community Hosts, with
a total allocation of RM 600,000”, Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari added.
Mr. Azrul Shah Mohamad, General Manager of Tourism Selangor in a statement shared, “Tourism Selangor accepts the incentive offered to tourist guides, homestay operators and Selangor Community Hosts announced by Y.B Dato’ Menteri Besar Selangor with open arms. The State’s generous allocation of RM 2 million on tourism vouchers shows its compassion towards rebuilding the tourism industry in Selangor, and is expected to attract more domestic tourists into the State”.
“Tourism Selangor’s Domestic Tourism Campaign, “Pusing Selangor Dulu” has started to become an eye-opener and has by far received positive reactions
from the public. Aided by the many initiatives undertaken by Tourism Selangor,
the Campaign is hoped to bring forth a significant impact onto the economic
growth of the State’s tourism industry”, Encik Azrul Shah added.
Tourism Selangor has set a new tourist arrival target, in line with the
‘Reset Tourism’ vision and notion at 6 million tourist arrivals in 2020. With Pusing Selangor Dulu Campaign climbing on the
popularity among domestic tourists, the target will most-likely be materialized
with a prominent contribution by the domestic tourists.
For more information, please log on to the official website of Tourism Selangor at Selangor.Travel
About
Tourism Selangor
Tourism Selangor is a state government
tourism arm established to increase the number of local and international tourists
to Selangor by enhancing and developing the known as well as the undiscovered
beauty of the State. Many initiatives are taken to achieve this such as
organizing local and international campaigns, events, overseas tourism trade
missions, local roadshows and many more.
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