PETALING JAYA: The opening of international borders on April 1 was like the light at the end of a two-year tunnel of gloom for hoteliers, says Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president Christina Toh.
“Hotel room occupancy, particularly in the cities and in the Klang Valley, has increased to 50% and even more for some since April 1,” said Toh, who credited domestic tourists for the higher occupancy rates.
“Since April 1, there have been the Hari Raya break and school holidays. Malaysians were eager to travel again, and did so with a vengeance.
“For example, room occupancy in Kelantan and Terengganu is even better now compared with before the pandemic (first struck),” she said, adding that hotels in places such as Penang and Melaka would usually have higher occupancy during weekends or holiday seasons.
MAH has about 1,000 members, some of whom were forced to cease operations due to the pandemic and movement control orders.
Last month, Malaysia surpassed its target of two million tourist arrivals since borders were fully opened on April 1.
Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri has since set a new target of 4.5 million tourists by the end of the year.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang is even more optimistic.
“We forecast about five million tourist arrivals this year, compared with the ministry’s 4.5 million.
“The target is achievable as we are only in July, and there is still plenty of time,” he added.
However, Tan said there were still issues of delays at entry points such as airports, and cited a recent example where several foreign delegates attending a tourism fair here were stuck at the airport for several hours.
“If you make travel seamless and hassle-free, you will see the number of tourist arrivals jump,” he added.
On foreign tourists, Tan said they had begun gradually returning to the country, particularly from India and South Korea.
He said Malaysians travelling abroad were eyeing affordable and hassle-free destinations.
“Turkiye is among the favourite destinations as one can get a package deal for less than RM3,000 between April and November this year,” he added.
Apple Vacations group managing director Datuk Seri Koh Yock Heng urged those intending to travel abroad for the year-end holidays to firm up their plans and bookings now.
He said there was a danger of unavailability of flight tickets or higher prices for last-minute bookings, adding that most tour agents offer tour packages that were 20% to 30% cheaper for early bookings.
