Malaysia’s Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz announced that Malaysia will begin imposing its tourism tax from July, 2017. The tax will be collected from all types of premises used as accommodation for tourists, such as registered hotels and inns.

Nazri said the tax would be able to bring in an income of about RM654.62mil if there was a 60 per cent occupancy rate at over 11 million hotel rooms in the country.

Rates start from RM2.50 (S$0.80) a room each night at a non-rated accommodation to RM20 a room each night at a five-star accommodation.

Meanwhile, the Langkawi Tourism Association (LTA) foresees a drop of up to 20 per cent in domestic tourist hotel occupancy on the resort island with the imposition of the tourism tax on July 1.