Tourism and creative economy industry players have been urged to make good use of the available aid from the Federal and state governments to ensure business sustainability.
Penang tourism and creative economy chairman Yeoh Soon Hin encouraged those players affected to apply for the aid during this critical time.
Yeoh said that the Covid-19 pandemic continued to batter the travel and tourism industry, causing the entire sector to come to a standstill.
“The pandemic has impacted different groups in the tourism industry in varying degrees.
“It is important to review and set a common action plan to provide timely relief.
“We must also formulate a long-term recovery plan for business survival and revival.
“Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin recently unveiled Permai, a special aid package consisting of 22 initiatives worth RM15bil.
“Among the key highlights were a one-off payment of RM500 for 14,000 tour guides and 118,000 taxi, school bus, tour bus, rental car and e-hailing vehicle drivers, ” he said in a statement.
Yeoh said there was an urgent need for recovery in the tourism industry for business survival, job retention and to restart the tourism sector with long-term goals.
“Penang is the only state in Malaysia to allocate RM10mil to assist small business, the self-employed and entrepreneurs by providing interest-free loans to facilitate additional liquidity in support of the affected tourism industry.
“We have also taken proactive measures to alleviate the financial burden of industry players by urging relevant authorities such as financial institutions to provide a moratorium for loan takers, ” he said.
Yeoh said the state government remained staunch and committed in assisting Penangites badly hit by the pandemic.
“The state government has started a number of initiatives to support and fund the tourism and creative economy players.
“The schemes are open for applications now, ” he said.
Visit https://www.pdc.gov.my/ for further details on the initiatives.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2021/01/27/penang-urges-struggling-tourism-players-to-tap-available-funds