KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) has pointed out that the allegations in a letter by its disgruntled members were not supported by any evidence.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said they received the letter from the Registrar of Societies (RoS) based on complaints allegedly lodged by the members after the elections for the Executive Council of MATTA were held at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association on July 13,2019.
Tan said after consultation with the association's legal counsel and in accordance with procedure, MATTA had provided a comprehensive and factual reply to the RoS on December 4, 2019.
"We take complaints by our members very seriously and we have gone to great lengths to ensure that we have replied to the RoS with as much detail as possible in order to facilitate a smooth review.
"One of the alleged breaches occurred in 2015 when we are now in the term 2019-2021 of the Executive Council of MATTA and moving into the year 2020. Why is the issue being brought up now after five years?"
Meanwhile, MATTA's chief executive officer Phua Tai Neng explained that the AGM was conducted based on similar procedures and processes since 2003, and that MATTA had always used an independent technology solutions company to register the delegates for the AGM, and another independent auditing company to manage the whole election process including distribution of ballot papers and counting of votes.
"There has never been any issue nor complaint by any member up until now," he said.
Tan, who was re-elected president for another term together with his team, won an overwhelming victory against the opposition at the recent AGM.
MATTA has received many enquiries from the industry and also the media expressing concern as the weeks count down to the much-anticipated Visit Malaysia 2020. MATTA has been a very strong contributor to both inbound and domestic tourism traffic with extensive networks to the travel and tourism industry locally, regionally as well as internationally.
The national MATTA Fairs which are held twice-yearly have consistently clocked in excess of RM400 million in sales of which more than RM80million is generated by domestic tourism sales alone.
MATTA will continue to execute its extensive promotional and engagement activities as it gears up to help the government achieve its targets for Visit Malaysia 2020.
The association is targeting key growth markets and has already made arrangements to bring a strong trade delegation comprising of more than 30 agents and state tourism boards to ITB Berlin 2020, the world's leading travel trade show.
Sales missions to SATTE (Jan 2020) in India, various shows in China and ASEAN have already been committed to.
MATTA was established in 1975 and now has a national membership of over 3,600 members. It is the largest travel association in the country with strong affiliations to ASEAN, regional and international associations.
It is also the only international member of the European Travel Agents' and Tour Operators'Associations from Asia.