JOHOR BARU: In response to a spike in demand brought on by consecutive celebrations and school breaks, hotels are bustling during this period.
According to Ivan Teo, chairman of the Malaysian Association of Hotels Johor Chapter, the ASEAN Tourism Forum next month has also helped to boost reservations.
“During holiday seasons, hotels in this area, particularly those in the city centre, have consistently had high occupancy rates.
“In addition to the short time between Christmas and Chinese New Year, Johor will also host the ASEAN Tourism Forum, which has further increased demand,” he said, noting that the high demand has also resulted in a sharp increase in hotel rates.
Next year’s Chinese New Year is January 29.
According to Teo, the 30-day visa-free period for Chinese nationals has boosted the travel industry and increased hotel reservations.
In addition to Malaysia, Singapore and other Southeast Asian nations extended the same invitation to Chinese travellers.
He said, “This has helped to bring in more Chinese visitors because they are already in the region and are more likely to travel to Malaysia.”
Teo stated that he hoped the Human Resources Ministry would make it easier to hire foreign workers to meet the growing demand, especially for the “dirty, dangerous, and difficult” tasks. He urged the ministry to help them navigate the laborious process of hiring foreign workers, saying, “The lack of manpower will continue to be a challenge for us, and we hope the government can help.”
Budget hotels are also seeing a rise in reservations, according to Jarod Chia, chairman of the Malaysia Budget and Business Hotel Association Johor Chapter.
“We are seeing a lot of bookings between Christmas and New Year, and we expect occupancy rates to climb further as the celebrations draw closer,” he stated.
According to Chia, the increase in hotel reservations has also been attributed to the one-week school semester break.
“During Chinese New Year, business will typically slow down as most people return to their hometowns, but it will still be better than normal days,” he continued.
“We anticipate that bookings will continue to rise throughout the year” -The Star
