GEORGE TOWN: Penang’s tourism sector was hit for the first time in recent years during the Hari Raya festive period, with hotel occupancy rates dipping below 50% in most cases.
Despite the holiday falling on a Sunday and school holidays stretching to a seven-day break, tour operators reported that attendance was probably the “worst ever” with a significant drop in tourist arrivals.
Hoteliers had hoped occupancy would be a minimum of 70%, but bookings were way off target, said Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang chapter chairman Tony Goh.
Goh attributed the decline in visitors to several factors: many locals chose to leave the state to celebrate the festive season with their families, while others avoided Penang due to concerns about traffic congestion and overcrowding. Even the popular beach resorts, which are typically favored by families, could only achieve slightly over 60% occupancy.
“Most Penang Muslims traveled to their hometowns for Raya. Raya is not tourism, but reunions with families,” said Goh. “The estimated 2.6 million tourists may have deterred some from coming.”
Traffic jams on highways also helped to keep visitors away. Goh added the estimated 30% fall in hotel guests was the lowest during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hotel checks confirmed the drop. One of the big four-star hotels with 400 rooms got only about 40% occupancy in the first two days of Raya, while one of the neighboring three-star hotels managed about 60%.
Goh urged the government to intensify tourism marketing and control more short-term lettings like Airbnb, which he argued are stripping the hotel industry. “A lot of the units are unlicensed, pay no taxes, and have no checks,” he stated, also indicating that they can capture up to 30% of market share.
Andy Lau Eng Leong, chairman of Mybha, also expressed similar grievances. He explained how some of the budget hotels did manage to get a 90% rate with walk-ins, while others were generally at about 70%, below last year.
Lau also attributed hotel room oversupply and increased competition from new players as well as Malaysians’ outbound holidays as factors.
“With the launch of some new hotels and more residential units being converted into short-term stay places, pressure has been mounted on the already tight market,” he added.
For the first two days of Hari Raya, Penang’s usually bustling tourist spots were comparatively quiet, with light traffic and short queues at local restaurants and attractions. Traffic only picked up on Monday.
Police had earlier predicted that 2.6 million cars would enter the state in six days, using traffic flow data along major roads and highways connecting Penang with Kedah and Perak.
