Cut in Sarawak flights leaves hotels ‘bleeding’

The number of flights to and from Sarawak has been reduced for two weeks in August. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: Sarawak hotels are “bleeding” from restrictions to combat Covid-19, especially after the number of flights into the state was reduced for two weeks, according to the Malaysian Association of Hotels.

Sarawak MAH chairman Mohd Ibrahim Nordin said the industry had suffered enough since the country was first hit with the virus in March.

“Now the reduction of flights to and from Sarawak has worsened the situation. We are “bleeding” (at the moment). Hotel operators have to downscale the operations and downsize the manning,” he said.

Last month, the Sarawak disaster management committee had a cut in flights from Aug 1 to Aug 14 because of the spike of Covid-19 cases in the state.

“The overall business picked up to double digits in July but dropped in August due to the increased cases and new clusters in Sarawak.

Sarawak MAH chairman Mohd Ibrahim Nordin.

“We did a random check in July and found that the average occupancy levels for city hotels are at 22% and resort hotels are running at peak occupancy with an average of 65% on weekends only.

“The hotels’ average occupancy levels in Sarawak for 2019 was at 58%. The percentage had dropped to 22% this year and this includes hotels that had been gazetted as quarantine centres. Most hotels that had been used as quarantine centres were running full houses during the mandatory quarantine period,” he told FMT.

Hotels that were not gazetted as quarantine centres had to be temporarily closed as they were running at single-digit occupancy or zero occupancy from March 18 until the end of June.He said 18 hotels in Sarawak are used as quarantine centres, down from 27 hotels before.

Ibrahim said federal aid for hotels for three months was insufficient “as our operations cost are high”. He said the Sarawak aid packages announced by Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg had come as a relief for the tourism industry.

“The Sarawakku Sayang packages had been significant to the tourism industry, for example, the waiving of local licenses for 2020, and reduction on quit rent and building assessment fees,” he added.

However, Ibrahim said the industry needed more support from the relevant ministry to remain sustainable. “We hope to be extended a better package of discounts on utility bills. We only received a 15% reduction. We have requested for a 50% discount,” he said. - FMT