Around the world hotel taxes are popular with governments but hated by travelers. That makes sense. But with a new proposed tax, Malaysia is set to increase the cost of a hotel stay for all foreign travelers.
Many municipalities, provinces or states and countries add a levy on hotel nights. They are controversial. These types of taxes have proven to generate revenue but dissuade tourism, but now Malaysia is preparing to add a hotel tax on international visitors. However at this point only foreigners staying in hotels in Malaysia will need to pay this new tax according to the country’s Tourism and Culture Minister.
According to the proposed plan, all international visitors will need to pay a tax of 10 ringgit ($2.33 dollars) per night per room. Minister Nazri Aziz has not set a start date for this new scheme.
“The tourism tax will provide a sustainable fund for the development of Malaysia’s tourism industry”, Nazri told local media. Malaysians will be exempt from the so-called “tourism tax.”
“The tax is not expected to impact tourist inflows due to the relative weakness of the ringgit compared to the US and Singapore dollars.”
According to Nazri, “It is expected to generate 654 million ringgit ($152 million dollars) in annual revenue from the country’s 11 million hotel rooms.
