PETALING JAYA: Hotel occupancy in Penang and Sabah is expected to exceed 80% during China’s National Day holiday, bucking a softer demand outlook across much of the country.
Known as the Golden Week break, the celebration runs from Oct 1 to 7, giving people a long respite from work. It is a peak holiday period with many taking the opportunity to visit overseas destinations.
Malaysian Association of Hotels vice-president CS Lim said the stronger performance in Penang and Sabah was likely due to their popularity among Chinese visitors and direct flight links with China.
“Penang and Sabah seem to have really high rates for the week,” he said, adding that both were traditionally favoured destinations among Chinese travellers.
Lim said Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were also expected to see high occupancy, helped by spillover from the Formula 1 event.
Occupancy of between 60% and 80% was expected in Pahang, Sarawak, Negri Sembilan and Kedah, while several other states were projected to record below 60%.
In Sarawak, hotel demand is also expected to be supported by the What About Kuching Festival, which runs from Oct 1 to 30.
Lim said the overall Golden Week outlook was softer than last year, with demand concentrated in a few destinations rather than spread across the country.
He said with economic challenges brought by global uncertainties, people were becoming more cautious about their spending.
He, however, said it was still too early to draw any conclusions, as hotels could not always determine a guest’s nationality at the booking stage until the guests checked in.
According to Trip.com, Malaysia ranks fourth among overseas destinations for Chinese travellers during Golden Week, after South Korea, Japan and Thailand.
Other popular destinations include Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Trip.com Malaysia general manager Stephane Thong said Malaysia was also among the top three destinations in South-East Asia, alongside Thailand and Singapore.
“Golden Week remains an important travel period for Chinese travellers, with Malaysia continuing to see strong interest,” she said, adding that Kuala Lumpur was the most popular Malaysian city, followed by Kota Kinabalu, George Town, Tawau, Johor Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Langkawi and Sandakan.
The data also showed growing interest in nature-based holidays among young Chinese travellers aged 18 to 24, with searches for nature-related trips rising 53% year-on-year.
Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association president Datuk Dr Angie Ng said this year’s Golden Week spans two weekends, giving some travellers from northern China more time to make connecting flights to Malaysia.
She said the response so far had been encouraging, although many bookings were being made at the last minute.
“Perhaps we will see bookings coming in gradually next week,” she said.
Ng added that Chinese travellers were increasingly opting to travel in small groups or with their families, particularly since the introduction of visa-free travel.
