KOTA KINABALU, April 17 — Sabah’s tourism sector is the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing movement control order (MCO), according to a recent survey by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Sabah.
IDS executive director Anthony Kiob said 26 per cent of those in the industry have lost their jobs.
“At least 34 per cent are on unpaid leave while another 32 per cent of tourism-related jobs have had to take a pay cut.
“They revealed that they have zero-income due to the absence of visitors during this MCO measure. As the operators have no income, they were unable to pay their workers and cover their operational cost,” said Kiob.
The findings were the result of a survey carried out by IDS targeting selected business sectors that are badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the MCO.
“As we know Sabah relies heavily on its tourism sector as this is the sector that contributes most to our GDP. Unfortunately, this is the sector that is most affected by the MCO due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Sabah’s tourism industry relies heavily on Chinese and South Korean visitors, which contributed about 40 per cent and 27 per cent respectively of the total international arrivals.
The two countries that were among the first that experienced the Covid-19 pandemic early this year, causing tourism figures to drop drastically.
As of late February, Chinese tourists were barred in stages from entering Sabah.
“Tourism operators are now facing bleak future,” said Kiob.
He said that tourism operators welcomed the government’s stimulus package that, among others, gave a 15 per cent discount on monthly utility bills, a monthly wage subsidy for employees for companies that qualified, and bank loans moratorium, although they said this may not be enough to keep them afloat.
“These measures are welcome by the operators as many are unable to pay their staff and may lay off staff if the salary subsidy by the government did not come in.
“About half of the respondents revealed that, even with the availability of the stimulus package, they are still unable to sustain their businesses as the MCO is extended,” he said, adding that players were hoping for more measures by mid May to address the economic slowdown.
“They foresee that the subsequent fears to travel will have longer impact on the tourism sector and the state’s economy,” he said.
Other suggestions put forward by the industry players include waving all utility bills for six months, extending the wage subsidy for another three months or until the pandemic is over or until business is back to normal, and extending the loan repayment moratoriums until the end of the year 2020.
“Other suggestions put forward include special grants for freelance tour guide, dancer and musicians; suspend EPF contributions from employers to employees for six months: allow certain business to re-open for limited hours and with restrictions in stages during the MCO; and government to assist in aggressive campaign on domestic travelling after the MCO is lifted,” he said.
The full result of the survey will be submitted to the state government.
Kiob also commended the government for extending the MCO for a further two weeks, stating that the restriction has been effecting in flattening the curve of Covid-19 cases.
“Perhaps we should follow China example where MCO is only lifted when no new positive Covid-19 cases are reported,” he said.
