PETALING JAYA: Cancellation of hotel room bookings have increased after the Chinese government issued a ban on its citizens from booking overseas tours, flights and hotels a few days ago, says the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH).
It expects more cancellations, especially at destinations highly dependent on the China market.
MAH CEO Yap Li Seng said hotels in Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi were anticipating a drop in occupancy rates from 30% to 60% immediately, while other destinations like Melaka, Ipoh, Port Dickson and Penang were looking at an immediate impact of 10%-50% drop.
In a two-day industry meeting, MAH and other tourism stakeholders made a commitment to support precautionary measures and standard operating procedures set by the government to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
This included temporarily halting immigration facilities for citizens of Wuhan and areas around Hubei province.
Under the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign, it is projected that there will be 30 million tourist arrivals, with 3.48 million arrivals from China.
Yap said the hotels are fully prepared with sanitising facilities for both guests and employees, scheduled cleaning of all contact and touch points as well as isolation procedures for any suspected cases.
Yap said other than the hotels, various industry stakeholders, including airlines and tour operators are considering immediate contingency plans to boost tourism from other markets.
“We are working together to implement attractive packages as alternatives to those planning to travel to China. This will not only promote domestic tourism but could also cushion the negative impact from the current situation.”
Yap said that MAH and its member hotels were ready to support marketing and promotion initiatives through Tourism Malaysia.
“MAH is confident with the emergency and crisis preparedness of the Malaysian government, and that Malaysia is safe for tourists,” he said. - Star
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