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'Only loonies will say RM fall not good for tourism'

Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz lashed out at his critics today, saying only crazy people did not understand that the falling ringgit is good for tourism.

 

"Those people are mad, literally mad if they don't understand what I'm talking about," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

 

He reiterated that a weak ringgit will especially spur domestic tourism,

 

" When our money is weak, do you go to London? Where do you spend your money? Port Dickson, Penang," the minister said

 

The ringgit is plummeting against the greenback, and closed today at 3.9600/9630.

 

While Nazri said the currency drop is good for local tourism, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) however said tourism arrivals have fallen 30 percent in the last six months.

 

“This is very rare in the Malaysian tourism industry. We hope the situation will stabilise soon,” Matta president Ham­zah Rahmat was quoted as saying by The Star .

 

According to Hamzah, there were multiple factors that caused the drop, including the six percent goods and services tax, the soft world and local economy, and the current uncertain political situation.

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