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ISKANDAR PUTERI (THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Thirteen hotels in Johor were forced to close when the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect the tourism industry.
Coupled with the closure of the border with Singapore, it was a double whammy for industry players in the state.
The chairman of the State Committee for Tourism, Youth and Sports, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi, said the tourism industry in the state was significantly devastated with a hotel occupancy rate at a record low of 27 percent.
“The occupancy rate fell from 57.3 percent last year to 27.66 percent in August.
“The state government has been pushing for the reopening of the Malaysia-Singapore border with Putrajaya on a weekly basis as we are well aware of its importance,” he said in response to questions about the state’s recovery plans for the industry.
Onn Hafiz added that the only way to reopen the border was through the cooperation of all parties in the state and a reduction in the number of Covid-19 cases in both countries.
He also noted that the state had introduced several initiatives under the Johor 2021 budget to help tourism industry players who were affected by the pandemic, including the RM1,000 incentive for state-registered tour guides.
“An allocation of RM320,000 (S $ 105,000) is reserved for some 16 state and district tourism associations and a delivery of RM2,000 in cash to 586 travel agency companies.
“There is also the introduction of certification for hotels that comply with the Covid-19 standard operating procedure to increase public confidence in the use of their facilities,” said Onn Hafiz.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the state Health and Environment Committee, R. Vidyananthan, said the number of patients visiting health clinics for mental problems increased from 32 in June and 46 in July to 678 in August.
He said the large increase was due to the launch of an online self-assessment for mental health by the state Department of Health on Aug.9, which was part of an initiative to address mental health issues.
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