Mixed reaction from tourism players on new Perak hotel law

 

The Perak Hotel Enactment 2023, passed last month, has expanded the definition of “hotels” to include boarding houses, chalets, rest houses, tents and houseboats, and requires them to be licenced to operate. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: A council representing tourist guides and an association of hotels are at odds over a new law aimed at regulating accommodation for travellers in Perak.

The Malaysian Tourist Guides’ Council president Jimmy Leong said the state enactment, intended to give hotels and other forms of lodgings equal treatment, would level the playing field for operators. However, he was skeptical as to whether the regulations could be implemented effectively, saying it is “easier said than done”.

Leong said the law which seeks to make licences mandatory for hotels and homestays was commendable, but asked how the authorities would enforce it against those who refuse to comply.

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He was commenting on the Perak Hotel Enactment 2023, which expands the definition of “hotels” to include boarding houses, chalets, rest houses, tents and houseboats, and requires them to be licenced to operate.

Passed on May 23, the new law, which replaces the 96-year-old Boarding House Enactment 1927, empowers the Perak government to regulate these accommodations and to levy fees and rates.

Leong, however, advised against the introduction of a similar law at federal level, saying that it would burden operators with unnecessary red tape.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Budget and Business Hotels Association president Sri Ganesh Michiel said the expanded definition given by the Perak state assembly to the term “hotel” puts it at odds with existing federal law.

“The definition of ‘accommodation’ is already in the Tourism Industry Act 1992, so they cannot simply change it. You cannot treat a guesthouse the same as a hotel as the services offered are different,” he said.

Under the Act, the term “accommodation premises” refers to “any building, including hostels, hotels, inns, boarding-houses, rest houses and lodging houses, held out by a proprietor for lodging or sleeping accommodation to tourists.”

Sri Ganesh said the new state law would ultimately result in customers having to bear the brunt of higher rates brought about by additional layers of taxes and levies imposed on operators.

He instead called on the government to streamline regulations and crack down on illegal operators to ensure the sustainability of the hotel industry. - FMT