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Johor to hold Sunday town hall on recovery measures after Covid-19 batters tourism

Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the state government will be holding a town hall session on February 23 to communicate its plans to boost state tourism to industry players who have been hit hard by the global outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus. — Picture by Ben Tan
Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the state government will be holding a town hall session on February 23 to communicate its plans to boost state tourism to industry players who have been hit hard by the global outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus. — Picture by Ben Tan

JOHOR BARU, Feb 21 — The Johor government will be holding a town hall session on February 23 to communicate its plans to boost state tourism to industry players who have been hit hard by the global outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

State Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the town hall will be at Fraser Place in Puteri Harbour, and is organised with the cooperation of the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and the agencies under it.

“Due to the drop in the tourism market since the Covid-19 outbreak earlier this year, the government has taken proactive measures by meeting with industry players and non-governmental organisations to get the latest updates about the tourism industry,” she said in a statement.

She said Johor’s hospitality industry has suffered immense losses, with data from the Malaysian Association of Hotels showing over 15,808 room cancellations since February 17, resulting in loss totalling RM5.4 million.

She noted that a majority of cancellations were from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and even domestic tourists.

The coronavirus outbreak has proven a stumbling block to the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign so far, but the federal government is expected to announce a special economic stimulus package next week to boost domestic tourism.

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