PETALING JAYA: Malaysia needs a coordinated national strategy to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) in the tourism sector, says the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA).
Its president Nigel Wong said the transition towards electric tourism vehicles should not be viewed purely as a transport issue but as a broader ecosystem involving infrastructure, energy planning, financing and tourism policies.
“This is not simply about replacing petrol and diesel vehicles.
“It is about building a practical ecosystem that enables tourism operators to adopt EV confidently, affordably and at scale,” he said in a statement.
Wong said efforts to electrify tourism transport would remain fragmented without stronger coordination between ministries, agencies and industry stakeholders.
He cited countries such as Norway, China and several European nations as examples of how coordinated government policies had successfully accelerated EV adoption.
“In Norway, strong incentives and a nationwide charging network helped expand EV use even in rental fleets serving tourist destinations.
“In cities like Amsterdam and Paris, tourism transport services such as hotel shuttles and sightseeing fleets have shifted towards electric mobility through coordinated climate policies and low-emission zones,” he said.
Wong added that China’s rapid electrification of public transport, particularly in Shenzhen, also demonstrated how large-scale mobility systems could be transformed when infrastructure, incentives and policy direction were aligned.
“The common thread across these countries is not just investment in EV but a coordinated policy and implementation framework that brings together energy, transport and tourism under a unified direction,” he said.
Wong also said Malaysia had a strong foundation through initiatives such as the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint 2021-2030.
However, he said better coordination was needed to expand charging infrastructure at tourism hotspots, highways and urban centres.
“There should be targeted incentives to help tourism operators transition their fleets to EV.
“Government-linked companies and public sector agencies should also lead by example by adopting EV for official and tourism-related transport use,” he said.
Wong said a whole-of-government approach is urgently needed to provide the policy certainty and scale required to transform tourism mobility sustainably.
Source: unified-push-for-evs-in-tourism
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of Kritik.com.my. As an open platform, we welcome diverse perspectives, but the accuracy and integrity of contributed content remain the responsibility of the individual writer. Readers are encouraged to critically evaluate the information presented.