JOHOR BAHRU: 13 hotels in Johor have ceased operations amid the spread of COVID-19 in Malaysia this yr, the state’s Tourism, Youth and Sports activities Committee chairman mentioned on Tuesday (Dec 1), without naming the affected institutions.
Onn Hafiz Ghazi informed the Johor State Legislative Meeting the closure of the Malaysia-Singapore border and the implementation of the motion management order (MCO) has prompted the common occupancy price in resorts to saying no to about 28 percent in August this yr, in comparison with about 57 percent in 2019.
The COVID-19 state of affairs additionally resulted in native vacationer guides shedding their supply of earnings, whereas the number of visitors in theme parks and shopping malls has dwindled, he added.
Onn Hafiz stated that the state authorities are conscious of the significance of reopening the Malaysia-Singapore border, particularly for the tourism sector.
For the border reopening to achieve success, Onn Hafiz stated it required the “understanding and settlement” between the state authorities, the federal authorities, and the Singapore Authorities. It additionally wants to take under consideration well-being and security components, such because of the variety of circumstances in each international location.
He added that the Johor authorities have offered a number of initiatives to make sure that the state’s tourism sector was in a position to survive COVID-19 and stay viable sooner or later.
These initiatives embody offering a one-off contribution of RM1,000 (US$245) to registered vacationer guides and the exemption of fee for enterprise licenses and leisure duties underneath the Ihsan Johor Financial Stimulus Package deal 2020 to help tourism trade gamers.
“For subsequent yr, the state authorities will implement initiatives equivalent to reviewing the Johor State Tourism Grasp Plan 2014-2023 to make sure the route of the tourism sector will be deliberate in an extra organized method and according to present developments,” he stated.
Malaysia on Monday recorded a four-digit improvement in COVID-19 circumstances for the fourth day in a row. The nation is at the moment battling its third wave of COVID-19 and has reported a complete of 65,697 COVID-19 circumstances and 360 deaths as of Monday.
