— A total of 534 homestay and chalet operators in Johor have received one-off assistance of RM1,000 each to ease their burden in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the assistance totalling RM534,000 through the Ihsan Johor 3.0 Economic Stimulus Package was expected to help them to continue their businesses.
“The state government is aware of the impact faced by the tourism sector as a result of the pandemic which has not ended yet. I hope this assistance can help them to some extent,” he said in a statement here today.
Meanwhile, Trata’leka Homestay Resort owner Safiah Isa said the assistance was needed to cover the operating expenses of her homestay after a 90 per cent reduction in visitors to her place since last year.
“This reduction has caused financial problems to pay for maintenance and so on. Alhamdulillah (thanks to Allah), this assistance can help cover my homestay operating expenses, especially maintenance costs,” she said in the same statement.
Early last month, Hasni had announced an allocation of RM1.74 million to assist tourism sector players under the Ihsan Johor 3.0 Economic Stimulus Package.
Among those in the list of recipients are budget hotel, home stay operators, tour guides and registered travel agencies in the state.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency