Where the room charges on tourits go ?

Room surcharge or Levy has been imposed and implemented by Penang Government since June 2014. The authority said the levy collected would be used to promote tourism in Penang for the benefits of visiting tourists. It has been almost three years since the collection of levy but we have not heard much about the development plans or promotional events pertaining to the tourism or its related operation.

There is an obvious lack of information centres on most of the Penang tourist centres. What the tourists especially non-local tourists need is the information and briefing on the attractions where they are visiting. Not only information centres are not available but also booths and stalls where pamphlets flyers and brochures can be obtained are hard to locate and find.

In some foreign countries where tourism is blooming, shutter buses are easily available from hotels to designated tourist spots and to ease the maintenance of these fleet of vehicles transporting tourists to the tourist sports, the local authorities can reimburse the hoteliers with the levy collected.

Levy collection is logic and relevant to be used to fund the tourism related activities including the maintenance. There are still many improvements needed for enhancement of the infrastructure in the tourist spots such as toileting facilities and erection and placement of informative signage.