MITA seeks moratoriums for tour bus operators

Tour bus operators are chalking up huge losses amid Malaysia’s lockdown,

says MITA’s Uzaidi Udanis

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) is calling on credit and leasing companies to offer a moratorium to its tour bus operator members.

There are 9,000 tour buses in Malaysia which are financed by credit and leasing companies, according to its president, Uzaidi Udanis.

He shared: “Some members have 100 tour buses and they have to pay these credit and leasing companies RM10,000 (US$2,300) monthly per bus. It is an impossible situation when tour buses have not been utilised for tour purposes since the movement control order was imposed on March 18.

Uzaidi added that the association will be holding a meeting on Thursday (May 28) with the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (PEMUDAH) which reports directly to the prime minister. “We will be updating PEMUDAH on the plight of tour bus owners as well as tourism industry players who have not received the stimulus package from the government in the hope that they will bring our issues to the Cabinet,” he said.

He added: “This will be a follow-up to an appeal we made to the minister of housing and local government, Zuraida Kamaruddin, three weeks ago asking the Ministry to intervene and to urge the credit and leasing companies to give a flexible repayment scheme.”

Amid the coronavirus lull, MITA and Malaysia Tourism Council are also working with the National Disaster Management Agency to transfer Malaysians arriving from overseas from the airports to the designated quarantine centres within the Klang Valley approved by the government.

Said Uzaidi: “On average, 40 buses a day are used, which is a very small number, and the revenue from this cannot match the income generated from the tourism business.”

-TTG Asia.