LETTER | Any travel industry wish list for Budget 2025?

LETTER | During the five years from 2015 to 2019, travel associations have been issuing press statements annually to request various incentives, hoping that the Finance Ministry would consider their proposals and include them in the budget announcement.

When wish lists were long, the strategy was to get the government to grant at least some of the requests, but such ploys yielded poor results.

If proposals were sound and crucial for the industry, repeating such requests every year would underscore their importance. On the other hand, dropping them only proves they may well be just a passing fancy.

Often, it was a game of one-upmanship, as leaders of rival associations made use of media publicity to show that not only were they performing their roles, but they were also doing a better job than other associations.

Understandably, the pandemic years brought an intermission. But it has been rather quiet this year, although the travel industry is almost back to 2019's level and well on its way to Visit Malaysia Year 2026.

Are travel industry players enjoying "freedom from want" or have the various associations running out of ideas or do not wish to propose requests that were previously submitted but not granted?

For sure, not everything will remain hunky-dory all the time, and there is always room for improvement. For example, the "Hire & Drive" permit is kept alive by antiquated rules.

We ought to take cognisance of what the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said recently said about the more than 3,000 outdated laws.

Licences

In Malaysia, companies granted "Inbound" licences from the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry may apply for "Hire & Drive" permits if they wish to operate car rental services.

In Peninsular Malaysia, these permits are issued by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad), and new rental vehicles are licensed without hiccups.

But problems may arise years later as road tax can only be renewed if both the "Inbound" licence and 'Hire & Drive" permits are valid for the entire duration of the new road tax.

Unfortunately, many have different expiry dates, and Apad will not renew the permits beyond the "Inbound" licence expiry date, which can be less than a year away but still too early for renewal.

Often, tourism vehicles were grounded for weeks or months when stuck in such a situation. Instead of being bogged down by technicalities, we should just get rid of "Hire & Drive" permits.

In other countries, including Thailand and Singapore, individual permits are not required for each rental car, as only the company needs to be licensed. This concept is similar to licensing restaurants, as operators can decide the number of dining tables.

However, the best solution for Malaysia is to categorise "Hire & Drive" cars under "Decontrolled" vehicles that are used exclusively for light goods vehicles. The only condition is that only companies with "Inbound" licences may register and operate "Hire & Drive" vehicles.

These "Decontrolled - Hire & Drive" vehicles should also be exempted from excise duty, just like all existing "Decontrolled" goods vehicles and excursion buses (Bas Persiaran).

If so, the full potential of our car rental industry will be unleashed and Malaysia could be better promoted as the paradise for great motoring holidays, thereby spreading the tourist dollar nationwide.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.