FEWER Malaysians are travelling abroad this Hari Raya holidays because of the economic downturn, said travel agents.

More Malays would rather spend their holidays in their hometowns due to the weak economy and limited budget, said Persatuan Syarikat Pengendalian Pelancongan Bumiputera Malaysia (Bumitra) vice-president (outbound travel) Shamsulnida Mudari.

Usually, middle-to-upper-income Malay families would travel overseas but the number has dropped this year, he said.

“Raya tourism is not yet a trend as most prefer to go back to their hometowns. When the economy is good, only the middle- and upper-class families would consider going abroad,” Shamsulnida told The Malaysian Insight.

Director-general of Tourism Malaysia Musa Yusuf said although the agency does not have any statistic on “festive” travels, it is believed to be popular among the Malays.

Their first preference would be to go back to their hometowns before going for any domestic or overseas holiday.

“Some may shorten their trips back home because they have children or relatives abroad in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, etc. So they will go abroad to visit relatives during the festive season,” he said.

Overseas holiday

According to AirAsia X, the five most popular international routes last year during the Hari Raya holidays were Taipei, Busan, New Delhi, Perth and Jeju Island in Korea.

But because of a weaker economy, this is no longer the case, said Shamsulnida.

“Basically, Malays who choose to go abroad during Raya will tend to have fewer relatives, or they will be in urban areas like Kuala Lumpur and they will take the opportunity to travel outside.

“But my own customers will not. Most of them go to Asia or Australia and the average itinerary is about four to five days.”

Ahmad, a company consultant with Isra Travel, said compared with last year, orders are 30% lower this Hari Raya season.

“It’s 30% lower than last year (turnover). This year, we have received about 40 customers, all of whom are going to Vietnam, South Korea and Australia. Many of them have booked earlier.”

Ahmad also said that most customers will still return home on the first day of Raya and then travel overseas after that.

Another way to celebrate Hari Raya and take advantage of the long holiday festival is to go to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for umrah.

Shamsulnida said although the cost of a short pilgrimage to Mecca during the fasting month is high, there are Muslims who choose to go to there at this time.

“My firm received a total of 30 people from one group this year. During the Raya holidays, I went to Mecca for a pilgrimage and a festival and it felt different.

“But during the fasting month, hotel accommodation in Mecca are naturally several times more expensive. Based on the basic 12-day itinerary, the cost is about RM8,000 and some better packages can reach RM10,000.” – May 31, 2019.