Tourism is expected to be an area of focus for the upcoming Budget 2020, in line with the VMY2020 campaign. — Bernama photo
KUCHING: Tourism is expected to be an area of focus for the upcoming Budget 2020, in line with the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY2020) campaign.
“As VMY2020 looms, it is no surprise that tourism will be an area of focus for Budget 2020,” RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB Research) opined in its Budget 2020 preview.
“The Tourism Ministry is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals, which will generate RM100 billion in tourist receipts for VMY2020 – a 6.8 per cent and 8.5 per cent increase from this year’s targets.
According to RHB Research, budget allocations to support tourism promotional activities will likely be increased from RM100 million in 2019.
To continue providing assistance to companies involved in tourism-related activities, the research firm expected the Small & Medium Industry Tourism Fund loan and Tourism Infrastructure Fund of RM500 million and RM1 billion – which were introduced in 2019 – to receive additional injection.
“Meanwhile, to boost tourism activities, we hope the departure levy that was implemented in September 2019 and the tourism tax on accommodations – introduced in 2017 – will be suspended or reduced in tandem with lower passenger service charges, in conjunction with VMY2020.”