Stakeholders in Langkawi are dismayed with the impending implementation of excise duty on tobacco in the tourist island come April 1, 2021.
The business group comprising of some 24 organisations, namely, the Langkawi Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners, Malaysian Association of Hotels (Kedah/Perlis), Langkawi Business Association, Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel (Kedah/Perlis), Malaysian Budget Hotel Association (Kedah/Perlis) to name a few.
For the first time such a large number of stakeholders had come together at the joint memorandum signing ceremony at the Aloft Hotel for the sake of tourism in Langkawi and the future of the island and locals.
Thus, the group is calling for an indefinite deferment of the new ruling. The memorandum will be presented to the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Langkawi is well known for its duty free status besides the fact that it is a beautiful island for eco-tourism and other fun-filled activities.
“”The recent move will reduce tourist arrivals both domestic and international if further duty free status for items are removed.
“The duty free items not only apply for alcohol but for sales of cigarettes and chocolates,” said the press statement.
They also added that the hotel industry heavily relies on Langkawi being a tourist destination to fill up its rooms.
“Therefore, we need to stay competitive to pull visitors to the island or else we are no different from other destinations in Malaysia.
“For example, the Pangkor Island when it was given the Duty-free Free status saw a growth in the economic activities which resulted in a surge in the hotel business.
“As for Langkawi, the hotels need to fill up their rooms and all government related policies need to focus on its revival.
“Removing its few remaining attractions will have a major negative impact,” added the statement.
They added that not only hotels will be affected but the people’s livelihood and the overall economy will be impacted.
“It is a vicious circle, as tourist arrivals drop leads to hotels occupancy drop, your operators and transport business also affected, while the attraction venues and handicrafts sellers and even roadside stalls will be severely affected with this implementation,” they said.
They also said that the overall impact might result in a lot more people losing their jobs, especially in the hotel and tourism industry. This might in turn result in the increase in crime rates on the island.
“Therefore, we call upon the Federal Government to allow back the duty free status of the cigarettes and also not to remove the alcohol duty free status.
“The government should also allow 24-hour visitors to purchase the alcohol instead of the present 48- hour currently as in the case of Labuan.
“They should further enhance enforcement to curb smuggling which is under their jurisdiction.
“The government should look into ways to further make Langkawi attractive instead of making it loose its pull factor.
“Please engage with all tourism stakeholders to develop a structured plan for Langkawi which is to focus on the tourism industry. These measures will in turn, benefit the short, medium and long term objectives,” read the joint statement.
