Homestay villages are ready for the rail chapter

IN 1995, I started with three houses – mine, my mother’s and my mother-in-law’s. I was a rubber tapper in Kampung Ketam 1 in Kerdau, Temerloh, and the fact that guests from Kuala Lumpur, let alone Tokyo or Mumbai, would one day sit at my table and eat ikan patin with my family was not something I had envisaged.

We did not have a railway line. What we had were communities that chose to open their doors and everything behind those doors to visitors: the batik and silverwork of Kelantan, the crystal crafts and keropok lekor of Terengganu, and ikan patin and rainforest trails of Pahang.

We wanted visitors to understand not just how beautiful the east coast is but how it is actually lived as well.

We targeted Malaysian families on a Cuti-Cuti Malaysia weekend, parents bringing children to see how a village wakes before dawn, how fish are caught or how batik is made by hand.

The Malaysia Homestay Association (MHA) today spans 222 registered villages and more than 8,300 accommodation units across the country.

It represents income that stays in the village, women running enterprises from their own homes and young people who found a reason to stay.

Operators across Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang built their businesses, trained their families and opened their doors before a single rail track crossed their backyard.

The problem was never what we had to offer; it was that reaching us required a decision most travellers were not willing to make.

But our most loyal foreign guests, Japanese visitors who have supported this movement for 30 years, made the journey willingly.

From Kota Baru in the north to Temerloh in the heart of Pahang, the east coast is one of Malaysia’s richest tourism corridors – a belt of destinations that offers what no city hotel can replicate.

When we took our operators to Indonesia through our Homestay Tourism Showcase (HOTAS 2026) across Jakarta, Bogor, Padang, Bukit Tinggi and Pekanbaru in June and July, travel agents, universities and family groups immediately showed interest.

But every serious conversation came back to the same question: How do visitors get from Kuala Lumpur to the kampung?

The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) is now in its testing and commissioning phase with passenger services scheduled to begin in early 2027. A journey from the Klang Valley to Kota Baru that currently takes seven to eight hours by road will take under four by train.

Temerloh, Kuala Terengganu, Dungun and Kota Baru – destinations that once required a committed road trip – will be within easy reach on this fast rail network.

For domestic travellers, this changes the calculation entirely. A Cuti-Cuti Malaysia weekend on the east coast, always desirable but never quite convenient, will become as straightforward as a trip to Ipoh. For foreign visitors, the east coast will no longer be a destination that requires a rental car to reach.

Our homestay villages have been welcoming guests for 30 years. The railway will expand the opportunities for us.

We are already developing packages for rail travellers who step off at a station without a car and need a seamless journey from platform to the kampung.

Visit Malaysia 2026 has given us the platform; the railway will give us the reach. What we are building now across 222 villages, from Kota Baru to Temerloh, is the readiness to welcome a new generation of travellers who will, for the first time, be able to find us by train.

We built this industry without a railway; we are ready for what comes with one.

DATUK HJ SAHARIMAN HAMDAN

President

Malaysia Homestay Association