Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said states have a better idea of what tourist attractions to promote.
“It’s a good move to decentralise tourism promotion in every state. I believe the states know better which of their respective tourism products are more marketable,” Masidi told FMT.
Alex Lee, the chief executive officer of a travel agency, Ping Anchorage, echoed this, saying there were no better state tourism promoters than the states themselves.
“Having state agencies doing the promotions is much better, compared to having officers from another state coming over with less knowledge of the state’s tourism treasures,” Lee said.
Masidi and Lee were commenting on Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz’s announcement that the role of attracting tourists would be handed over to the respective states.
Nazri was reported as saying that the move which came into effect yesterday, was estimated to save the federal government RM6 million a year.
“This is a right move because at the moment (before Nazri’s announcement), there was an overlap in the work of Tourism Malaysia and the relevant state agencies when it came to promoting tourism,” said Lee.
“By having only one of those two entities doing the job, the federal government gets to save some money that it can then divide among the states to promote tourism.
“But the tourism ministry and the relevant state agencies should work more closely in terms of tourism development, products, and marketing, to ensure better results,” he added.
Masidi meanwhile hoped the move to make states responsible for their own tourism would not spell an end to federal assistance.
“I hope the federal government via the tourism ministry would continue to give financial support to the tourism authority in every state,” he said.
This he argued, was because taxes collected from tourism would go to federal coffers, and more tourism meant more tax earnings.
There should be an arrangement where a portion of these taxes are returned to the states, as Putrajaya’s contribution to tourism.
On a related note, the Karanaan assemblyman said Nazri’s move was also a good step towards giving autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak.
“I consider this move a good beginning to the devolution of powers from the federal to the state authorities, to empower both states in regulating their tourism industries.
“I think Nazri understands well the mechanics of effective tourism promotion.”