PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) expects a hike in tourism activities after the lifting of inter-state and district travel restrictions since last week.
However, MAH chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng said, it is likely that the increase in activities will not be as rapid as what was seen in the beginning of the recovery movement control order (RMCO) last June.
“The industry also encourages those who had previously cancelled their bookings due to the inter-state travel restrictions to have further negotiations with hotels,” he told FMT.
The government recently announced that nationwide inter-state and inter-district travel will be allowed from Dec 7, except for areas under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO).
Meanwhile, the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Sabah has been extended from Dec 7 until Dec 20. The CMCO had been in place since mid-October.
Yap said, for the time being, there was no data on any increase in hotel bookings, but added it may be revealed this Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) agreed that the easing of travel restrictions would increase tourism activities, but expects it to be slow.
Mita president Uzaidi Udani said the next two weeks will show if this increase in tourism activities would help the industry.
“We would like to thank the health ministry and the National Security Council (MKN) for relaxing the travel restrictions, because the industry may be able to help rebuild domestic tourism.
“Industry players must prove that we are still able to fight the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
However, Uzaidi reminded industry players to be careful and warned against taking the easing of restrictions as a free pass for them to breach SOPs.
He said industry players and local tourists must follow the SOPs so as to balance the needs of the economy and that of their health.
“The public and tourists should travel responsibly, by choosing nearby destinations. They do not have to go far.
“Industry players should be responsible because the relaxation does not mean there were no longer many Covid-19 cases, because there are still so many.
“We are just forced to live with the virus,” Uzaidi said.
Meanwhile, Budget Hotel Association (BHA) president Emmy Suraya Hussein said even though inter-state travel is allowed, bookings for their hotels were still slow.
She added that it may still be too early to tell, due to domestic tourists still being cautious with their budget or their family’s health.
However, she hoped for an increase in bookings soon.
The tourism industry is expected to face a loss of more than RM100 billion this year.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri said this was expected following the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has worsened the negative effects of the pandemic on the country’s tourism sector.
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