State housing and local government committee chairman Sandrea Ng said the charge was part of the Perak Hotel Enactment 2023, approved by the state assembly in May last year, Sinar Harian reported.

Ng told FMT it will apply to all accommodation service providers, including hotels, homestays and short-term rentals such as Airbnb.

“The main objective of this enactment is to regulate all accommodation services and to have uniform regulations for the different segments of the sector.

“Other states have implemented similar charges under different names. The Perak government’s implementation of the charge was postponed to Jan 1 for the sake of tourists visiting in conjunction with Visit Perak Year 2024,” she said.

She said the local service charge would help the state improve the quality of services at tourism destinations.

Ng said licences to run accommodation services would be given by the relevant local councils from July 1. This applies to hotels, campsites, chalets, boathouses and homestays.

She said the state government would give operators a grace period of one year to comply with the new regulations, following engagements with stakeholders.

“During this period, we will only advise these operators if they have yet to apply and register (for the licence with their local councils). No compounds will be issued,” she said.

However, she urged operators of accommodation services to immediately apply for the licence with their local governments, adding that the fee would not burden them.

The Perak Hotel Enactment replaced the Boarding House Enactment which had reportedly been in effect since 1927.