Association baffled over 1,000 bookings

LANGKAWI: The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Kedah/Perlis chapter is baffled by a news report that claimed there were 1,000 bookings in hotels in Langkawi on Sunday.

Its chairman Eugene Dass said as much as the industry would love to see such a surge in hotel bookings, he did not believe the figure was correct.

“Instead, the news caused much anxiety and concerns among hoteliers and their employees over how such flawed information could be spread through the media. What I can say in response to the Prime Minister’s announcement (regarding the recovery movement control order) is that we are ready.”

MAH national acting president Halim Merican said recovery was the responsibility of the community and not just the industry.

“We will overcome this phase together with facts and data to support the economic growth, ” he said.

On Sunday, Langkawi Tourism Association (LTA) chief executive officer Zainudin Kadir was quoted as saying that the hotels in Langkawi received 1,000 room bookings between 4pm and 4.45pm immediately after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said in a special address that interstate travel would be allowed from June 10.

Zainudin, when contacted yesterday, was adamant that his statement was true and that many hotels continued to receive bookings since Sunday.