KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) is urging the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) to have the Fourth Schedule of the Tourism Industry Act 1992 amended or revoked swiftly.
Matta president Datuk Tan Kok Liang explained that the schedule contains a section on terms and conditions for outbound travellers, issued on Feb 18, 2000.
Referring to the terms and conditions as outdated and problematic, and which are not helping businesses and travellers, he explained at a press conference here today:
“It is counterproductive for Motac to micromanage holiday contracts between travel agents and customers by imposing the same terms and conditions on services delivered by diverse tourism sectors and different countries, each having their own rules and policies for cancellations, postponements, rerouting and refunds.
“Following the Covid-19 outbreak, the Fourth Schedule has placed travel agents in a quandary. They (travel agents) are now exposed to potential liability of around RM500 million from customers seeking compensation, regardless of cancellation and refund policies of various service providers”.
As the schedule was introduced by Motac, Tan said the ministry should take the responsibility to intervene and resolve the current predicament in the industry.
“This is because many customers are only looking at the minimum administrative fee allowed in the Fourth Schedule, which is RM30 or two per cent of the tour fare (whichever is lower) and ignoring the fact that all or a substantial portion of payments forwarded to airlines and hotels have been forfeited according to their cancellation policies,” he said.
According to Tan, should the situation escalate, Matta will consider engaging legal counsel for the travel industry to pursue the matter in court.
Meanwhile, on another matter involving umrah business, Matta deputy president Mohd Akil Yusof said this sector faces a potential loss of about RM52.5 million.
This follows the recent announcement by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry on the temporary suspension of visitors to the kingdom for the purpose of performing the umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque, as a proactive measure to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Mohd Akil explained that during the period before the school holidays, there were normally 1,000 passengers departing from Malaysia for Saudi Arabia each day, with this number increasing to 1,500 a day during the holidays.
“So if you look at the minimum price per passenger...let’s make it RM5,000, and if we times that by the number of departures, we know how much is going to be lost during the school holidays for umrah,” he said. — Bernama
