KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) wants the government to allow hotels to take guests for room accommodations and for meetings.
15 Jan 2021 / 14:29 H. Traishaws, an iconic mode of transport in Penang are parked neatly along a quiet Jalan Penang following the re-enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) effective Jan 13 till Jan 26 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. The present MCO involved six states namely Penang, Selangor, Federal Territory (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Melaka, Johor and Sabah. fotoBERNAMA (2021) COPYRIGHT RESERVED
By AMANDA YEO
IT is devastating to see that all efforts from every segment of society are in vain. Malaysia used to be a role model for other countries to learn how to combat the Covid-19 pandemic effectively, but now it has become the third most infectious country in the Southeast Asia region.
“All members are badly affected especially those that own a few, like eight to 10 hotels, with a big number of rooms and a lot of employees, ’’ said MAHO executive director Shaharuddin Mohamad Saaid.
WITH international borders still restricted, the hotel sector next year will still be highly dependent on domestic tourism.
The easing of movement control orders recently, allowing for travels for tourism and meetings at hotels, will help the domestic tourism and hotel sector. Due to the low yield of domestic travels, hotels can only hope to survive with little or no profits.
The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) is forecasting a full year 2020 occupancy of about 25% compared with 60% in 2019. With a drop of 30% to 70% in room rates, MAH said that would translate into a 60% to 80% loss in revenue.