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Kuala Lumpur: A total of 204 tourism and hotel operators have closed their business since March this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO)

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri (pic) said based on data released by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), the number comprised 109 entities in the hotel sector including hotels, resorts, motels, homestays and chalets, while 95 others were tourism agencies and tourism activities operators.

“Thirty-two out of 109 entities from the hotel sector and 38 out of 95 tourism agencies were ordered to close by the courts or they closed voluntarily,” she said at the Dewan Rakyat sitting Monday.

She was asked by Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (BN-Machang) on the number of hotels and tourism companies that went bankrupt since the enforcement of the MCO until Oct 31 and whether the ministry would undertake initiatives to ensure hotel operators and tourism companies could bear the operating cost until the economy reopens. Nancy said the ministry would study the matter and hold discussions with other government agencies and related associations to identify the issues and find solutions.

However, she said, the ministry had also approved new licence applications from 135 tourism companies and operators during the same period.

Meanwhile, Nancy said the ministry planned to ask for about RM50 million in development allocation for the Sungai Batu archaeological site in Kedah under the rolling plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan for 2021.  “Last September, the ministry’s officers visited the archaeological site with EPU (Economic Planning Unit) officers and explained the long-term plan and development allocation required,” she said to a supplementary question from Nor Azrina Surip (PH-Merbok) on withdrawal of the allocation for the archaeological site previously.