31/03/2026
𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐌𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐌 𝐓𝐀𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐅 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐌, 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐀’𝐒 𝐁𝐔𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐓
The Malaysian government should encourage more Malaysians to travel locally by giving them tax relief for hotel stays, an industry group has suggested.
Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) president Sri Ganesh Michiel said this proposed tax measure would help with the expected reduced number of overseas visitors due to the Middle East conflict.
“As global travel costs rise and geopolitical instability in West Asia/Middle East disrupts traditional overseas routes, we strongly urge the government to pivot towards domestic resilience by adding and expanding the RM1,000 tourism tax relief to include licensed and registered accommodation,” he told Malay Mail.
“We must proactively incentivise Malaysians to choose local destinations to balance the inevitable shortfall in international arrivals,” he said.
But he said this tax relief must be strictly only for regulated hotels to safeguard industry integrity and to ensure it supports businesses that contribute to Malaysia’s national economy.
“By making ‘Cuti-Cuti Malaysia’ a more financially attractive option than increasingly expensive and volatile foreign travel, we can insulate our tourism sector from external shocks and ensure the absolute success of Visit Malaysia 2026,” said Sri Ganesh, who is also Malaysian Tourism Federation president.
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁:
KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — The Malaysian government should encourage more Malaysians to travel locally by giving them tax relief for hotel stays, an industry group has...
