Hotels equipped for seasonal tourist influx

JOHOR BARU: Hotels and resorts in the state are prepared to welcome a large number of visitors this holiday season as they are able to fill up most of the positions left vacant following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysian Association of Hotels Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said the situation has since improved as industry players have been able to recruit more workers over the past few months.

“The worker shortage problem was acute in the first few months after the reopening of the border.

“We did not have enough time to replace workers that have left.

“Over time, we have been able to recruit more workers and the situation now is not as bad as before.

“Most hotels could now operate at maximum capacity. It will not be a problem to cope with the high occupancy rate this holiday season,” he said when contacted.

In June, The Star highlighted the lack of manpower plaguing the hotel industry following the reopening of the Johor-Singapore border in April this year.

Teo said apart from recruiting part-timers during busy periods, hotels as well as the food and beverage industry are also turning to using robots.

“The use of robots have helped some hotels and restaurants cope with the manpower issue. It is also relatively cheaper compared to hiring a worker.

“It costs between RM1,500 to RM2,000 a month to rent the robots. For now, the only task is to deliver food to the tables. We still need workers for other areas,” he said.

He also said hotels and resorts are expected to see high occupancy between this month and January.

Desaru Coast Destination Resort managing director and chief executive officer Roslina Arbak said they have registered good occupancy rate this holiday season.

“We recorded very encouraging bookings during this year end school holidays with guests arriving from various parts of the country.

“Given our proximity to Singapore and easy connectivity via daily ferry services direct to Desaru Coast ferry terminal, we have also seen a positive uptake from our closest neighbour.

“In terms of resources, there has been an improvement and we can now run at full capacity,” she said.

Pulai Spring Resort general manager Sunny Soo said hotels and resorts are better prepared for large crowds compared to during other holiday seasons during mid-year.

“After the border reopens, many people started looking for jobs in the island republic including workers in the hotel industry.

“This has contributed to solving our manpower problem.

“It was not easy to get locals to work as they prefer going to Singapore with better salary and perks.

“But over time, we were able to find more people to work including part-timers,” he said.

Co-owner of Dragon Inn Alice Chan said she was able to retain most of her workers during the pandemic.

“Manpower is was not much of a problem as I managed to retain most of my workers during the movement control order periods.

“I had to cut their pay and reduce their working hours back then.

“Now the situation is back to pre-pandemic times,” she said.