Strategic Program to Empower People and the Economy (PEMERKASA) Boosts the Tourism Industry
  1. The tourism industry is one of the sectors that has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To reduce the burden and support the recovery of this sector, the Government will:
    • Extending the exemption from tourism tax and service tax on accommodation provided by hotel operators until 31 December 2021;
    • Extend tax incentives to tourism operating companies until the 2022 assessment year;
    • Allowing the deferral of monthly income tax installment payments from 1 April to 31 December 2021 to be given to companies in the tourism industry and selected industries such as cinemas and spas;
    • Providing entertainment duty exemptions on admission fees to entertainment venues such as theme parks, stage performances, sporting events and competitions as well as cinema film screenings in all Federal Territories;
    • Expanding the scope of individual income tax special relief up to 1,000 ringgit to cover expenses for purchasing travel packages through travel agents registered with MOTAC; and
    • Providing HRDF levy exemptions for affected tourism and retail sector companies for the period until June 2021.
  2. In addition, the Government has agreed to distribute a one-off Special Assistance Grant of 3,000 ringgit to more than 5,000 travel agencies registered with MOTAC.
  3. The government has also agreed to provide a one-off cash assistance of 600 ringgit to homestay operators registered with MOTAC. This assistance is expected to benefit more than 4,000 homestay hosts or operators under the Homestay Experience Programme.
  4. To assist cash flow and reduce business costs for hotel operators, theme parks, convention centres, shopping malls, local airline offices and travel and tourism agencies, the special 10 percent electricity bill discount will be extended for another 3 months until 30 June 2021. With the extension of this discount period, the Government will bear a total cost of 135 million ringgit
  5. An allocation of 700 million ringgit to extend the Wage Subsidy Programme 3.0 for another three months in a more targeted manner. This is mainly for the tourism sector, wholesale and retail trade, as well as other businesses that were closed during the MCO such as sports centres, gyms and spas. This initiative is expected to help 400 thousand workers and 37 thousand employers.