WHILE some of his peers and those in the hotel industry are facing an uphill struggle to stay afloat in the Covid-19 decimated economy, hotel franchiser Wang Yin Siang has become a symbol of digging in and fighting to survive.

Wang, the group executive chairman of the Place2Stay brand of budget hotel, says a dose of good fortune is helping him too.

While his peers have resorted to laying off staff, forcing them to take a pay cut, and in the worst case scenario, shut down for good, Wang did not resort to those methods.

He made sure none his 15 franchisees in Sarawak and four in on the peninsula – one each in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Terengganu and Malacca – go under.

Wang also said none of his 100-plus staff have been laid off.

“Without them, we can’t continue in the business,” he told The Malaysian Insight, after attending the “pocket talk” with the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Alexander Linggi in Kuching yesterday.

Wang had earlier raised the difficulties hoteliers like him faced in getting the various financial packages the federal government had rolled.

“Hopefully we will survive. We will see what happens in the next two months.”

Wang is thankful for the “very nice and very kind landlords” who agreed to give between 30% to 50% discount on the hotels’ monthly rentals for the next three months.

“The discounted rates, that’s the only way we can survive. Without them, I don’t think we could,” Wang, who holds the only local brand hotel franchise in Sarawak, said.

Meanwhile, the government had also promised income tax deductions to landlords who reduced rental rates.

Wang said he had applied for the wage subsidies the government promised SMEs.

The Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) in a “health check” showed that as of June 19, 5% hotels have gone out of business, 33% were operating at half capacity, while only 62% were operating full operation.

The survey found that 39% of the hotel respondents say they will have to close down if the situation does not improve soon, while 57% say their hotel could return to the pre Covid-19 levels of sales and growth in more than six months. – July 4, 2020.