Let true homestays go on

IN recent years, online travel marketing platforms have hijacked the concept of “homestay” to include staying in homes without the owners being there.

As a homestay involves guests interacting with their hosts, these arrangements are merely renting dwellings for private use.

Renting out entire apartments or houses for short-term stay should be licensed by the relevant authorities, as effective measures must be in place to safeguard the interests of the guests and neighbours.

Licensing would also ensure that the business is legitimate and the proprietors pay the required fees and taxes.

When entire apartments or houses are rented out by owners or sublet by entrepreneurs for short-term guests, noisy or unruly visitors could be a nuisance to the next-door neighbours.

If safeguards are not in place, tragic incidents could occur. One such incident happened at a condominium in Ipoh in December 2020. A “homestay” guest, furious that his child was prevented from using the swimming pool that was closed, fatally assaulted an elderly security guard who was merely doing his job.

Hence, I support Penang’s proposed move to ban short-term rentals in landed and high-rise properties. This came after numerous complaints from residents’ groups that had to put up with endless annoyances caused by boisterous holidaymakers in apartments, condominiums and residential neighbourhoods.

Malaysia remains an attractive holiday destination as room rates offered by our luxury and tourist class hotels are among the lowest in the world. There is also no shortage of affordable budget hotels throughout the country.

But in locations without a hotel nearby, homestays could be offered and even encouraged. This could be an apartment, house, hut, tent or converted shipping container placed within a compound or at large farms.

Homes with a spare bedroom or two could be used to take in guests. Home-sharing that allows visitors to experience their hosts’ local culture and traditions is experiential tourism at its finest.

The homestay concept is not new. For decades, students in exchange programmes have been staying with host families to immerse themselves in a foreign culture.

The Malaysia Homestay Programme was launched by the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry in 1995 with the aim of encouraging rural communities to venture into the tourism sector.

The programme gives tourists the opportunity to stay with a chosen family, interact with and experience their daily life, and learn the culture and lifestyle of the rural community.

YS CHAN

Kuala Lumpur