Time for hotel industry to ‘remove the box’

Hanley Chew: According to a recent study by the Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH), the industry is looking at a potential loss of RM6.3bil in room revenue alone. Assuming room revenue accounts for 60% of the total hotel revenue, with food and beverage and other income accounting for the remaining 40%, the industry is facing a RM10.5bil in potential losses.

THE hotel industry is one of the worst-hit industries during this crisis. A lot of studies have been conducted to help us understand the impact on the economy and our organisation’s bottom line.

Industry experts, through their various associations, have predicted that the average hotel occupancy in Malaysia for the year will stand at around 25% or less. This is such a shame, knowing that 2020 is supposed to be Visit Malaysia Year and Tourism Malaysia would have spent millions of ringgits through its promotional channels to bring holiday seekers to Malaysia.