KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) welcomes the move by the government to have the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate reduced from 6pc to 0pc effective from June 1. MATTA President DatukTan Kok Liang said, "This indirectly giants a 'discount' to I lie price of local tour and travel, with hopes in boosting the domestic travel industry which is an important contributor to the Malaysian economy."
"The 0pc GST' is bound to promote spending by both locals and tourist especially on Malaysian shopping, food and beverage including tourist attractions, thus, potentially increasing the price appeal of Malaysia as a travel destination and encourage more tourist spending."Domestic air tickets between the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak will be more affordable with zero-rated GST and will augur well for domestic tourism.
"MATTA has objected from day one that air travel should be zero-rated as air travel is not a luxury but an essential service for travel between West and East Malaysia," he said. According to Tan, the said policy shift will also bring consistency in GST treatment between Designated Areas (Labuan, Langkawi and Tioman) and the rest of Malaysian travel locations.However, he said it is not entirely clear whether GST needs to be charged for tours sold before June 1 b u t with a travel date on or after June 1."For instance, if a tour package is sold today (prevailing GST is 6pc), but the travel date is in June 2018 ('0pc GST' era), what should be the GST rate for such tour? As tour and travel products are sold every day, clarity is needed as soon as possible.
"Tan is now seeking clarification from the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) on the said matter."We hope RMCD will announced swiftly on the transitional issues when GST is zero-rated on 1 June 2018," stressed Tan. Meanwhile, he said MATTA will continue to be persistently engaging overseas travel agents to do packaging and to create awareness on local destinations. MATTA's membership with European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA) since 2017, he said, is significant to the industry as it will allow promotion of domestic tourism to over 27 European countries, through over 70,000 travel agencies across Europe, targeting more than 700 million consumers in the European region. Tan said collaborations and commitments between Malaysia and European travel agents are necessary to promote Malaysia at a global scale to further progress and to boost tourist arrivals to Malaysia for the benefit of all.He saicl Malaysia has been identified by ECTAA as the 'Preferred Destination of the Year' for the year 2018 in accordance to the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) signed between Tourism Malaysia and ECTAA on March 9, 2017 at Berlin, Germany aimed to boost tourist arrivals from European countries to Malaysia as an extension to the framework of cooperation between MATTA and ECTAA signed on March 9, 2016. According to him, the main European outbound markets to Malaysia include United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Norway and Belgium."Sabah will benefit as European travellers are nature and adventure based and our State has plenty to offer," he said.
'Domestic air tickets between the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak will be more affordable with zero-rated GST and will augur well for domestic tourism.'