Insight
COVID-19 UPDATE - ASIA Malaysia
Sri Sarguna Raj, Christopher & Lee Ong
Malaysia: tax, licence and duty hikes add to operator pressure
Tan Xin Ying , Christopher & Lee Ong
Contributors Sri heads the Intellectual Property, Sports and Gaming Practice Group which mainly focuses on intellectual property law in relation to both contentious and non- contentious work. He also represents and assists clients on matters relating to sports and gaming.
Xin Ying graduated from the University of Manchester and was admitted as a Barrister-at-Law in 2016 and an Advocate and Solicitor in the High Court of Malaysia in 2018. She practises mainly in the area of Information Technology, Intellectual Property, Sports and Gaming in relation to both contentious and non-contentious work.
www.chrisopherleeong.com
sri.sarguna.raj@christopher
leelong.com xin.ying.tan@christopher
leeong.com
‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ was put in motion and this year was supposed to be a bumper year with the expectation of 30 million tourists. It is now predicted Malaysia will lose 60 per cent of its tourism business by the end of the year.
P58 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
Malaysia is one of the most financially robust regions in Southeast Asia after becoming a free nation in the 1950s. With a large Muslim religion base there are strict gambling laws and the Common Gaming Houses Act and the Betting Act of 1953 banned betting houses. Lotteries are permitted and the Racing Act of 1951 permits horse racing with three horseracing courses for betting - Penang, Perak and Selangor Turf Clubs.
Te only other form of gambling is via Genting Casino, which saw over 28.7 million visitors last year with total group revenues of RM10.41bn ($2.38bn) and a net profit of RM1.3bn. Te resort has about 10,500 rooms across seven hotels and includes theme park, dining, retail and convention facilities. Online gambling, however, remains largely unregulated.
Te first Covid-19 case was reported late January in Malaysia. On March 18, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin officially set up the Movement Control Order closing non-essential businesses, border and school closures and later lockdown in specific locations. By mid-April the numbers began to drop and the Recovery Movement Control Order was introduced on June 10 to run until August 31, with a gradual lifting of restrictions.
In 2019, there were 26.1 million tourists to Malaysia spending around RM86.1bn. Te country saw 4.23 million international visitors for Q1 2020, a drop of
almost 37 per cent for the same period in 2019. Total expenditure was RM12.5bn (a decrease of 41.5 per cent).
A worldwide advertising campaign ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ was put in motion and this year was supposed to be a bumper year with the expectation of 30 million tourists. It is now predicted Malaysia will lose 60 per cent of its tourism business by the end of the year. Te #TravelLater brand is now being used to encourage domestic tourism and one idea is community based tourism in rural areas to revive local economic activities.
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