GEORGE TOWN, March 31 — Registered tour guides in Penang will need to apply online for the state’s one-off financial aid of RM500 from today onwards, said state exco Yeoh Soon Hin.

The Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman said the payment would be made through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) so Penang tour guides can apply for it online.

Tour guides need to fulfill three main criteria to qualify for the payment.

“Firstly, the tourist guide must be a Malaysian. Secondly, the tourist guide must be a registered guide with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Penang office,” he said.

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Finally, he said the tour guide must possess a tour guide licence which is still valid as of March 1, 2020.

“A total funding of RM685,000 has been allocated by the state for the financial aid, whereby around 1,367 licensed tourist guides would benefit,” he said.

He added that tour guides in Penang were one of the frontliners of the tourism industry and are among those heavily affected at this time.

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“We understand the difficulties faced by them during this period, and we hope that this will come to alleviate their financial burden,” he said in a statement today.

The RM500 one-off payment is part of Penang’s RM75 million aid package to help those affected during the movement control order (MCO) in response to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Online applications can be made at https://forms.gle/KRDbJ2KzLuwRgQdMA

For details, call Bahagian Perancang Ekonomi Negeri (BPEN) at 04-650 5548 or email [email protected].