SEREMBAN: Tourists have been returning to Negri Sembilan and hotel occupancy, especially in Port Dickson, is expected to remain high until Chinese New Year.
State tourism, arts and culture committee chairman Nicole Tan said Port Dickson has been busy welcoming guests back to its beaches and tourist attractions since the Covid-19 lockdown was lifted.
“The coastal town has seen business booming with tourists coming from all over the country,” she said. “Some additional measures being proposed to encourage tourism include promoting it as a safe and convenient destination which strictly follows health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19.”
Port Dickson, she said, is still considered among the top tourist destinations in Malaysia.
“Port Dickson has many historical and cultural sites such as the Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse, the Army Museum, the Kota Lukut Fort and the Sri Anjaneyar Alayam Temple that showcase the heritage and diversity of the region.
“Port Dickson is also facing challenges that need to be addressed. One of them is the cleanliness of the beaches, which have been affected by pollution, erosion and littering.
“Port Dickson needs to implement more effective and sustainable measures to protect and restore its natural environment, such as enforcing stricter regulations, increasing public awareness and promoting responsible tourism,” she said.
Tan said hotels could improve their occupancy by increasing their online presence via third- party listings such as online travel agencies, metasearch engines, social media platforms and review sites.
She believes that hotels in the resort town will see higher occupancy as Port Dickson is closer to Kuala Lumpur and the KL International Airport than most of the other beach destinations.
Malaysian Association of Hotels state chapter chairman Haziz Hassan said business for the bigger hotels has been good but it has yet to reach the good years of pre-Covid-19.
He said most had registered occupancy of between 90% and 100% during the long weekend of Deepavali and the outlook for the next two months remains bright.
“We should register an average occupancy of at least 70% for the coming two months but this could be higher as most of our customers are from the Klang Valley and the majority only book rooms at the last minute since we are like an hour’s drive away.
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