ALOR STAR: Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor today reminded all quarters that any negative publicity on Langkawi was a shot in the foot for the nation's tourism sector and the federal government revenue.
Sanusi pointed out that annually, billions of ringgit were contributed to the nation's tourism revenue by Langkawi, and that any derogatory comments regarding the island would have a direct negative impact on federal tax revenue.
"Let us be reminded that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Langkawi contributed between RM3 billions to RM4 billions of revenues to the country.
"I don't want to say that they are sabotaging Kedah but they are sabotaging themselves because the tourism revenues go to the federal government. Langkawi is an asset to the nation's tourism sector, not just Kedah.
"The state government only collects assessment fees from business premises but the bulk of the business taxes go to the federal government.
"I sincerely hope that this matter will be given due attention. Should the minister express disapproval towards the tourism destination, I fervently wish that the minister be reassigned to a different ministry," he said in a press conference at Wisma Darul Aman after chairing the state executive council meeting here today.
Sanusi was referring to the statement by Tourism, Arts and Cultural minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing's claims in September that non-Muslim visitors to Langkawi were barred from wearing shorts and consuming alcohol.
"He argued that you shouldn't go to Langkawi because you aren't permitted to wear shorts, which irritated me since he then indicated that we (the state government) should comply with him.
"If you want to cooperate, first and foremost you should not give bad publicity to Langkawi, especially by the ministry. Why are they so jealous of Langkawi? Making such baseless allegations will not serve any good," he said.
He stressed that such remarks would hurt Langkawi as a preferred holiday destination and it was done at the time when the island's tourism sector ws still recovering from the impact of the pandemic.
Yesterday, a Malay daily reported that domestic visitors were shunning Langkawi as a preferred holiday destination, forcing many restaurant operators and car rental operators to wind up.
Commenting further, Sanusi said among the factors affecting Langkawi's tourism sector was the lack of foreign visitors' arrival.
"Prior to the pandemic, foreign visitors contributed about 60 per cent to Langkawi tourism receipts while domestic visitors contributed about 40 per cent.
"Qatar Airways used to operate seven direct flights from 121 destinations every week but the service has yet to be reinstated after the pandemic. The same goes with AirAsia's direct flight from Guangzhou, China which has not been revived.
"To date, we only have direct flights from Singapore while the rest have yet to be restored. We hope the Tourism Ministry will look into this matter urgently," he said.
Sanusi added that the other contributing factor was the high cost of living which was also affecting domestic visitors' arrival to Langkawi.
"In this regard, the federal government, especially the Tourism Ministry should play a role, not the state government. Same goes with the ferry services, it is under the Transport minister's purview," he said.
"In fact, compared to Thailand, although Langkawi is a duty-free island, the federal government should consider introducing some tax relief to help tourism players to offer more competitive prices to attract visitors to Langkawi," he said.
