The Malaysian state of Sarawak has decided to quit the Malaysia Tourism Board (MTB). A statement from Sarawak chief minister’s office said: “The state government deems that the participation of its representative in Tourism Malaysia is not necessary, as it duplicates the role and functions of the Sarawak Tourism Board”.
The decision was taken by Sarawak’s chief minister Abang Johari Open. There has been a recent spat between the state tourism authority and culture minister Nazri Abdul Aziz over the tourism tax issue, according to the Borneo Post which did not think it had influenced the latest decision. There was reported resentment that the federal government pushed the tourism tax on Sarawak without consultation.
Nazri had called his counterpart in Sarawak “a political greenhorn”.
Culture minister for Sarawak Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah was quoted as saying that MTB had not been doing much for the state and, “we might as well help ourselves through the Sarawak Tourism Board”.
“Karim is just a new minister, he shouldn’t show off. If he doesn’t understand anything, he should meet me,” Nazri told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
Under the new tax, which takes effect on 1 July, all forms of hotel accommodation nationwide will charge between RM2.50 and RM20 daily.
Nazri, who tabled the bill in April, said the government stands to collect RM654m (US$152.6m) from the tax.
Malaysia received 26.8m tourists in 2016, according to the Tourism Ministry. Of that figure, Sarawak received 2.26m foreign visitors and an additional 2.4m visitors from the peninsula and Sabah, according to the Sarawak Immigration Department.
