KUCHING: Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, welcomed the federal government’s decision to channel 100 per cent of tourism tax collections back to states in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2026.
Abdul Karim described the move as positive and expressed hope that Sarawak would receive a significant share of the funds.
“This is very much welcome news and I do hope that Sarawak will get a big share out of it,” he said when asked to comment on the matter during a press conference for the What About Kuching (WAK) Festival here today.
However, he noted that the distribution of the funds would likely depend on a formula determined by the federal government.
“I believe there will be some kind of mechanism to determine how much each state receives, possibly based on the number of tourists or the amount of tax collected from hotels and the hospitality sector,” he said.
Abdul Karim added that Sarawak would welcome any form of financial support from the federal government to further develop the state.
“Anything that is forthcoming from the federal government, whether it is tourism tax, development funds, increased royalties or other allocations, is always welcome.
“Sarawak is a very big state. We need as much funds as possible to develop the state better,” he said.
