Tourism groups plead for help over ‘sudden’ diesel price increase

Two groups representing tourism industry players have urged Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing to intervene following the removal of subsidised diesel at the pump.

Tour buses are not eligible for targeted diesel subsidy schemes provided by the government, and the announcement did not give time for tour bus operators to adjust their prices, they said.

“The increase of RM1.20 per litre in diesel prices is too much for tour bus operators…

“(This) will affect the price of tour packages that have been booked in advance,” said Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Mint Leong in a memorandum.

In a separate memorandum, Peninsular Malaysia Tour Bus Operators Association chairperson Steven SW Chong rued the “huge” price increase.

“All tour bus operators have to bear this additional cost on their own,” Chong said.

“Due to ongoing tours throughout Malaysia, quotations and contracts issued to customers this month could not be rescinded in time, especially for many customers who have already made full payment.

“Cancelling the contract would involve many issues with contractual violations.

“The huge increase in diesel prices by 56 percent in less than two days is also unacceptable to tourism agencies abroad because they too could not increase the prices of their tour packages to Malaysia in time,” Chong added.

Both memorandums were submitted to Tiong’s ministry headquarters in Putrajaya this afternoon.

They urged the minister to bring the matter to the government’s attention and call for diesel subsidies to be extended to tour bus operators.

Targeted subsidy

Previously, after introducing the Budi Madani Subsidy Aid Programme for private diesel vehicle owners and fleet cards for the public transport and logistics transport sectors, the government finally withdrew subsidies at the pump.

The price of diesel would be floated according to the market rate and updated weekly like RON97. The announcement was made on Sunday evening and came into effect at the stroke of midnight on Monday, June 10.

This entailed a price increase from RM2.15 per litre to RM3.35 per litre.

However, tour bus and van operators have been complaining that they are being omitted from government subsidy schemes, which would affect the tourism industry.

In the memorandums today, the groups warned the omission would make tour buses uncompetitive compared to other bus services because they are more expensive to run and are required to have a tour guide on board unless an exemption is given.

“Mita is of the opinion that implementing diesel subsidies for corporate buses will create unhealthy competition in the industry where there will be a price gap between tour buses and corporate buses, where the latter is not required to have a tour guide,” said Leong.

“Diesel subsidies are only given to certain classes of buses, making tour buses uncompetitive against other classes of buses. This could degrade the quality of tourism in Malaysia,” Chong said.

Chong warned that the omission would make Malaysia’s tourism products less competitive on the international market, and will have knock-on effects on other sectors such as hotels, restaurants, and the national economy as a whole.

He said it could also encourage Malaysians to travel abroad, leading to foreign exchange losses.

Currently, buses eligible for Subsidised Diesel Control System (SKDS) for commercial vehicles include school buses, express buses, stop-and-go buses, and minibuses.

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