BUSINESS for tour, diving and resort operators on Sabah’s east coast, famous for its underwater adventures, has been hit so badly by China’s coronavirus outbreak that they are hoping for measures to help them stay afloat.

They are hoping for some form of subsidies from the authorities to help them through the coming months as the industry grapples with the fallout from the Chinese health crisis.

At the Singamata Adventures & Reef Resort, off Semporna, managing director Rodney Tong said 90% of room bookings have been cancelled.

Worse, there are no new reservations for the next three months.

“This would have been our boom time. In previous years, China tourists would have made bookings from after the Chinese New Year until Labour Day on May 1.

“We expected crowds and made preparations for the spring festival holidays by increasing the number of employees and stocked up on food. Now our overheads have increased, but there is no revenue,” Tong told The Malaysian Insight.

Sabah has suspended all flights from China since January 30, following the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, which to date has killed more than 560 in China. Malaysia, as of yesterday has a total of 14 positive cases.

The thought of having to lay off staff at his resort has crossed Tong’s mind, but he said he would try to avoid it as much as possible.

“At worst, maybe we’ll have to stop the contracts of temporary staff. We will pay salaries as usual, but it is a heavy burden.”

Tong’s holding company also operates resorts off Sabah’s northwest coast, such as the MA Mantanani Adventures and Dive Resort, and Tuaran Beach Resort.

In recent years, Sabah has beefed up its tourism initiatives, resulting up to 5,000 Chinese tourists daily in the state during the spring festival holidays.

Since the virus outbreak and Sabah’s suspension of flights from China, his resort at Semporna has had only two to three tourists daily. 

There are still Chinese tourists in Sabah who arrived before the suspension of flights, but once they leave next week, he is expecting resorts and beaches to be deserted.

Tong is hoping for Malaysians from the peninsula to holiday in Sabah and that the federal government will promote the state to other countries, given that 2020 is Visit Malaysia year.

“Tourism operators on island resorts have high overheads because of the cost of generators and the need to ship in clean water supply daily as well as fuel.”

Learn from Hong Kong

Mabul Water Bungalows managing director Robert Lo said bookings have dropped by 85%.

He is still receiving enquiries from tourists from other countries, such as South Korea, but overall, the numbers are much lower than usual.

Lo said it’s undeniable that Sabah’s tourism industry depended heavily on China tourists and suggested the Malaysian government could learn from Hong Kong, which has announced financial aid for its tourism industry after a huge drop in visitors following months of protests and riots.

The HK$100 million (RM53.1 million) aid package involves payouts to travel agencies for every overnight and outbound visitor they book, to a cap of HK$60,000 per travel agency.

Tong, meanwhile, urged federal and state governments to do more to assist tourism players, including getting airlines to provide more discounted tickets for visitors.

The governments must promote the fact that Sabah’s islands on the east coast are comparable to the Maldives and for less than half the price, he said. 

In recent years, their fame has spread, thanks to social media posts by tourists, including “influencers”.  – February 7, 2020.