TOURIST arrivals on Langkawi have increased but industry players do not feel they can breathe a sigh of relief with the spectre of Covid-19 still hanging over the island resort.

Several tourist bodies on the island told The Malaysian Insight that most hotel bookings are full until the year-end to celebrate the New Year but tour operators are still “hesitant” to maximise operations.

They said that although they welcomed the government’s decision to allow tourism, industry players still need time and other assistance so they can maintain business.

Langkawi has been hit hard with successive movement-control orders since March.

It was gradually recovering until another partial lockdown hit most parts of the country putting the brakes on interstate travel in November. This was later eased on December 7.

Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Matta) chairman Mohd Yussin Mohd Yatim said some hotels in Langkawi suffered from staff shortages when they had to lay off workers during the early stages of the MCO in March.

“It’s not that the hotels do not want to call employees again or make new appointments, but they still need time to stabilise operations.

“Before this, after a guest checked out, the cleaning process was only 20 minutes.

“However, now it is 40 minutes because we have to carry out sanitation process throughout the room.”

The uncertainty with the Covid-19 pandemic has also made businesses cautious about adding to their staff ranks.

A similar situation is playing out with the island’s one-time vibrant car-rental business, said Yussin.

“For example, if there are 10 cars, they are undecided whether to rent out all the cars because if the government suddenly announces another MCO, they have to bear the loss because rental cars need to be serviced before use.”

Yussin said many travel operators have switched to other careers to either become fishermen or cooks to continue surviving, only dabbling in the business part time.

“I am worried that this trend will continue, the career of a travel agent is only carried out seasonally, at weekends or school holidays.

“When this happens, of course, they will operate without a licence from the ministry due to financial problems.

“I am worried, not only in Langkawi but throughout Malaysia, if the travel agents do not get the proper assistance, eventually they will operate only when requested and without a licence,” he added.

Kedah-Perlis Hotel Operators’ Association chairman Eugene Dass said the occupancy rate for December to early January increased even more in Pantai Cenang by 50%.

“The arrival of tourism helped us to restore business but we cannot be satisfied, we have not reached the normal level as previously.

“It helped hotel operators but for travel agents, they are not satisfied because most tourists are locals and they do not use travel agents.”

The government should open borders to foreign countries and promote tourism between them to help the entire industry return to normal.

“Although there is an increase in tourists this month, our business will not be the same as in 2019 and 2018.

“We need more time to return to normal, I hope next year the government can maintain electricity bill rebates, taxes, so as to encourage the people to travel and help us,” Eugene said.

Langkawi Development Authority chief executive officer Dr Ahmad Hezri Adnan was reported to have said that the number of flights to Langkawi International Airport (LIA) has also increased.

LIA has, since Thursday, been handling more than 20 incoming flights a day from the Klang Valley, Johor and Penang, and the trend will continue until the end of this month.

“We are also informed that hotel room reservations received by hotels around the island are very positive, if this development continues, the target of 250,000 tourists this month can be achieved,” said Hezri. – December 22, 2020.