No report of ticket touts at Sungai Nibong terminal
The Road Transport Department (RTD) has not received any reports on 'ulat tiket' (ticket touts) at the Sungai Nibong Express Bus Terminal in the past two years.
Its state director Mohamat Johari Mat Nor said that the department could only act based on complaints from the public who buy tickets and board express buses at the terminal.
"If customers are asked to pay more than they should, then we can take action. But so far, we have yet to receive any report on the matter for the past two years.
"The issue, which has been raised in the media recently, should be settled between the express bus operators and terminal operators," he said, after officiating the 73th RTD Day celebration at the state RTD headquarters here.
Earlier this month, more than 15 express bus operators at the terminal cried foul over the alleged ‘harassment’ by ticket touts, who were charging up to RM18 for each ticket.
They claimed that their businesses had dipped significantly since the beginning of the month after they refused to pay off the ticket touts.
Meanwhile, Mohamat Johari said the move to station the RTD mobile van at public events to offer services such as driving licence and road tax renewal, had proven fruitful.
According to him, it had so far collected RM761,297.30 this year.
Collection through the mobile van totalled RM2.08 million and RM1.35 million, in 2018 and 2017 respectively, he added.
~News courtesy of New Straits Times~
Wednesday, 17 April 2019
Monday, 15 April 2019
Wednesday, 10 April 2019
Malaysia, Indonesia tie for top spot among Muslim-friendly travel destinations
Malaysia, Indonesia tie for top spot among Muslim-friendly travel destinations
Malaysia has taken the top spot in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) for the ninth year in a row, but for the first time it is sharing that position with Indonesia.
The GMTI 2019 report, which includes 130 destinations globally, gave both countries a score of 78.
In a joint statement today, MasterCard and CrescentRating said Indonesia had climbed from second place to the top spot through sustained efforts by the country’s Tourism Ministry to invest in its tourism and travel industry, and develop Muslim-tourist friendly infrastructure.
The rest of the top 10 countries are Turkey (score of 75), Saudi Arabia (72), United Arab Emirates (71), Qatar (68), Morocco (67), Bahrain (66), Oman (66) and Brunei (65).
In a joint statement today, MasterCard and CrescentRating said Indonesia had climbed from second place to the top spot through sustained efforts by the country’s Tourism Ministry to invest in its tourism and travel industry, and develop Muslim-tourist friendly infrastructure.
Last year, Malaysia received a score of 80.6 while Indonesia tied with the United Arab Emirates with a score of 72.8.
Singapore remains the premier Muslim-friendly travel destination among non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations this year, followed by Thailand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan.
The index tracks the health and growth of Muslim-friendly travel destinations in four strategic areas – access, communications, environment and services. — BERNAMA
Malaysia has taken the top spot in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) for the ninth year in a row, but for the first time it is sharing that position with Indonesia.
The GMTI 2019 report, which includes 130 destinations globally, gave both countries a score of 78.
In a joint statement today, MasterCard and CrescentRating said Indonesia had climbed from second place to the top spot through sustained efforts by the country’s Tourism Ministry to invest in its tourism and travel industry, and develop Muslim-tourist friendly infrastructure.
The rest of the top 10 countries are Turkey (score of 75), Saudi Arabia (72), United Arab Emirates (71), Qatar (68), Morocco (67), Bahrain (66), Oman (66) and Brunei (65).
In a joint statement today, MasterCard and CrescentRating said Indonesia had climbed from second place to the top spot through sustained efforts by the country’s Tourism Ministry to invest in its tourism and travel industry, and develop Muslim-tourist friendly infrastructure.
Last year, Malaysia received a score of 80.6 while Indonesia tied with the United Arab Emirates with a score of 72.8.
Singapore remains the premier Muslim-friendly travel destination among non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations this year, followed by Thailand, the United Kingdom, Japan and Taiwan.
The index tracks the health and growth of Muslim-friendly travel destinations in four strategic areas – access, communications, environment and services. — BERNAMA
Tuesday, 9 April 2019
Be prepared to pay a departure levy
Flying out of the country? Be prepared to pay a departure levy
Anyone flying out the country will have to pay a fee when the Departure Levy Bill 2019 is passed in Parliament.
The Bill tabled by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah (pic) for its first reading on Monday (April 8) seeks the implementation of a new levy on any person leaving Malaysia.
However, the amount of the proposed levy was not mentioned in the Bill.
In Budget 2019, the government had proposed a departure levy of RM20 for Asean countries and RM40 for non-Asean countries.
The Bill also proposes hefty punishments for those who avoid paying the levy.
Any registered person who makes an incorrect return or information can face a fine not exceeding RM500,000, a three-year jail term or both, upon sentencing.
According to the Bill, a registered person means any operator or agent of foreign operators.
The Bill also states that anyone with the intent to evade or assist another to avoid the departure levy will also be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1mil, a five-year jail sentence or both upon sentencing.
The proposed Act also states that any person who in any way assaults, obstructs, hinders, threatens or molests a Customs officer in the discharge of his function or fails to give reasonable assistance to any Customs offer will also be liable to a maximum three-year jail term, a fine not exceeding RM500,000 or both if found guilty.
~News courtesy of The Star~
Anyone flying out the country will have to pay a fee when the Departure Levy Bill 2019 is passed in Parliament.
The Bill tabled by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah (pic) for its first reading on Monday (April 8) seeks the implementation of a new levy on any person leaving Malaysia.
However, the amount of the proposed levy was not mentioned in the Bill.
In Budget 2019, the government had proposed a departure levy of RM20 for Asean countries and RM40 for non-Asean countries.
The Bill also proposes hefty punishments for those who avoid paying the levy.
Any registered person who makes an incorrect return or information can face a fine not exceeding RM500,000, a three-year jail term or both, upon sentencing.
According to the Bill, a registered person means any operator or agent of foreign operators.
The Bill also states that anyone with the intent to evade or assist another to avoid the departure levy will also be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1mil, a five-year jail sentence or both upon sentencing.
The proposed Act also states that any person who in any way assaults, obstructs, hinders, threatens or molests a Customs officer in the discharge of his function or fails to give reasonable assistance to any Customs offer will also be liable to a maximum three-year jail term, a fine not exceeding RM500,000 or both if found guilty.
~News courtesy of The Star~
Monday, 8 April 2019
TripAdvisor to aid tourism
TripAdvisor to aid tourism
The Tourism Ministry will be working with all the industry players and international travel website TripAdvisor to improve the review ratings for the country.
Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said they would visit every state, starting with Penang after Hari Raya in June.
“In tourism, it is all about the reviews. We want to bring all the industry players and stakeholders together and share the knowledge on how to obtain a higher rating.
“If you are lowly rated, tourists will not visit.
“If people leave bad reviews about the food or the hotel being noisy, the ratings will be low.
“There are many unknown attractions and service providers that are highly-rated although we may not know about them,” he said after handing over certificates to five Malaysia Tourism Quality Assurance 2019 (MyTQA) recipients at Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang on Saturday.
Muhammad Bakhtiar said Gurney Drive last year received low ratings probably due to land reclamation.
“It is rated by the people who went there and for obvious reasons, perhaps after the reclamation, sometimes people were disappointed as they wanted to see the sea.
“TripAdvisor is providing us with big data on why people visit Malaysia so we can figure out a strategy.
“There will be representatives from TripAdvisor joining us to advise the industry players.
Taiping was listed by Green Destinations (GD) as one of its 100 sustainable cities in the world last year.
“This shows that Malaysia has the potential.
“We, however, need to improve our service culture and Malaysian front-liners have to learn how to greet people and give it a personal touch.
“Other countries where English is not their first language have found a way to greet people in a welcoming way,” he said.
~News courtesy of The Star~
The Tourism Ministry will be working with all the industry players and international travel website TripAdvisor to improve the review ratings for the country.
Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said they would visit every state, starting with Penang after Hari Raya in June.
“In tourism, it is all about the reviews. We want to bring all the industry players and stakeholders together and share the knowledge on how to obtain a higher rating.
“If you are lowly rated, tourists will not visit.
“If people leave bad reviews about the food or the hotel being noisy, the ratings will be low.
“There are many unknown attractions and service providers that are highly-rated although we may not know about them,” he said after handing over certificates to five Malaysia Tourism Quality Assurance 2019 (MyTQA) recipients at Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm in Teluk Bahang on Saturday.
Muhammad Bakhtiar said Gurney Drive last year received low ratings probably due to land reclamation.
“It is rated by the people who went there and for obvious reasons, perhaps after the reclamation, sometimes people were disappointed as they wanted to see the sea.
“TripAdvisor is providing us with big data on why people visit Malaysia so we can figure out a strategy.
“There will be representatives from TripAdvisor joining us to advise the industry players.
Taiping was listed by Green Destinations (GD) as one of its 100 sustainable cities in the world last year.
“This shows that Malaysia has the potential.
“We, however, need to improve our service culture and Malaysian front-liners have to learn how to greet people and give it a personal touch.
“Other countries where English is not their first language have found a way to greet people in a welcoming way,” he said.
~News courtesy of The Star~
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