Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Uzaidi Udanis told FMT the aid was welcomed as most of those affected were small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Under the budget, finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz had announced seven key measures involving RM1.6 billion to revive the tourism sector, which was badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This included RM85 million in special assistance to more than 20,000 tourism operators registered under the tourism, arts and culture ministry for three months.

There is also a RM600 million wage subsidy programme to benefit more than 26,000 employers and 330,000 employees.

Specific funding of RM600 million will also be allocated under the Penjana Tourism Financing and Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd Rehabilitation Scheme.

Uzaidi said the special assistance can help companies to reset after being out of operation for more than 20 months.

“We are now in the recovery stage. Sometimes we need to renew vehicles used for tourism, renew their road tax and carry out repairs.

“Most of our players are SMEs and all such assistance helps.”