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New Hotel Tax in Malaysia (10 Ringgit per Night!)

Yes, you've heard it right. There is a new tax in Malaysia and it is called Tourism or Hotel Tax. It is a flat fee of 10 Ringgit (about 2.30 USD as of July 2017) and it will be implemented as of August 1st, 2017.

The original tax plan was to tax all tourists staying in a hotel in Malaysia. However that has been revised and the good news for Malaysian Citizens is that they won't be paying it. The tax will be levied upon foreign tourists only upon foreign tourists.

The reason for this tax (apparently) is that the Malaysia government needs money especially for the Tourism Board which needs to advertise overseas. They're saying that Ringgit (Malaysia currency) has been depreciating lately and that makes it a lot more expensive to advertise Malaysia Tourism overseas. However, what they're not mentioning is that the currency depreciation is also attracting more and more tourists to Malaysia which find it cheaper due to this currency exchange.

In this vlog I am arguing that even though this tax is not a lot it could affect low budget travelers such as backpackers staying in hostels. This hotel tax would add anywhere from 20% to 50% or more to their hotel bill. Hopefully it won't chase away tourists from coming to Malaysia.