S’poreans unfazed by new M'sia tourist tax, citing favourable exchange rate

SINGAPORE — Frequent travellers to Malaysia shrugged off an impending tourist tax that Putrajaya is introducing from August on accommodation, saying the RM2.50 (S$0.80) to RM20 levy was negligible.

Travel agencies said they needed time to study the new rule before deciding if prices need adjusting.

The Malaysian Customs said on Tuesday that the tourism tax will be implemented from Aug 1.

Travellers TODAY spoke to, such as business manager Lynette Poh, were largely unfazed by the impending taxes, citing the favourable exchange rate between the Singapore dollar and the ringgit, and their relatively short length of stays in 
Malaysia.

Ms Poh, 28, travels regularly across the Causeway each year, about thrice for holidays, and at least four times for business trips. “I only spend two nights at most in Malaysia, so the taxes would not have a large impact. I might also consider a cheaper hotel (with lower taxes),” she added.

However, some said the new tax might cause them to cut back non-essential trips.

A 50-year-old instructor, who wanted to be known only as Nur, said that “although RM20 is not much, on principle, if there isn’t a need to travel to Malaysia, I might just give it a miss”.

Some travel agencies declined comment on the impending tax, citing the need to obtain more information from Malaysian hotels.

Ms Lotus Ooi, general manager of Konsortium Express and Tours, said the agency was waiting for clarification from its hotel partners. Some of the hotels have yet to decide on how to impose the tax, whether it will be paid when a hotel booking is made, or at check-in or check-out. As such, there will “no changes on pricing yet”, she said, adding that Malaysia accounts for close to half of packages sold at the agency.