A SUDDEN rush of guests during the long Labour Day-Hari Raya weekend earlier this month left hotels scrambling to offer satisfactory services.

Some accommodations reported an occupancy rate of 90% during this period, but failed to properly fulfil the needs of customers due to a severe staff shortage.

Hoteliers said the Covid-19 pandemic hit the industry hard and subsequently caused massive lay-offs, so many hotels are short-handed now.

They said the RM1,500 minimum wage implementation has also impacted them, and urged the government to allow hotels to hire students as temporary staff.

They said they failed to rehire when travel restrictions were lifted on April 1, and that the recent rush of guests caught them off guard.

One hotel owner did not even have enough employees to make up rooms fast enough for incoming guests during that period.

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president N. Subramaniam said members reported an occupancy rate of 80% to 90% during the Labour Day-Hari Raya weekend and Wesak weekend.

“Hotels were full in all tourist spots outside Selangor and Kuala Lumpur,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The occupancy rate is between 50% and 60% in these areas on normal days.

Subramaniam said most hotels in the east coast, Penang and Malacca reported maximum capacity, with the majority of guests – who live or work in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur – returning to their hometowns.

He said before travel restrictions were lifted and before the Hari Raya holidays, these hotels recorded an occupancy rate of only 30% to 40%.

Though MAH members can achieve 100% occupancy rate, many “dare not” open all rooms for booking due to limited manpower, he added.

Subramaniam said hotels are finding it hard to persuade laid-off staff to return.

“It is not easy to bring back the employees who left.”

On top of that, he said, the recent RM1,500 minimum wage implementation has hoteliers struggling to balance finances.

“The situation is dire. Hoteliers are asking for foreign workers, but the authorities have not approved this.”

He said as a stopgap measure, the government should allow hotels to hire students as part-timers until foreign workers are available.

MAH Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said Johor did not see a single Singaporean tourist for two years, and that hotel owners were optimistic about recovery given the holiday season.

However, he added, a month – borders were reopened on April 1 and Labour Day is on May 1 – is too short a time for hoteliers to rehire staff.

Teo said in Johor, hotel guests were checked in to rooms that were not cleaned or tidied up.

“Fortunately, the guests did not complain as they understood the difficulties faced by hotels.”

It takes an hour to make up a just-vacated room, he said, but due to staff shortage, guests can check in only at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm instead of 1pm.

Johor hotels, too, did not open all rooms for booking, keeping the occupancy rate at only 70% to 75%, he added.

Teo said three- and four-star hotels are the hardest-hit by the staff shortage in the state.

He also agreed that students be allowed to work part-time at hotels.

“Working at hotels is less dangerous than other places. Students can experience working life and earn pocket money at the same time.

“Johor hotels are highly dependent on Singaporeans, and we do not want to give off a bad impression because of the staff shortage.”

Like in most states, he added, hotels in the state were also forced to dismiss 70% of their employees following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hoteliers need a break

Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association Johor chapter chairman Jarod Chia said some hoteliers even donned housekeeper uniforms and made rooms following the sudden spike in guests during the holiday season.

“Some asked other hotels to lend their staff, while others hit the streets to look for anyone who wanted a part-time job.”

He said as hotels did not have business during the movement control orders, most hotels retained only one service employee.

These premises then ask staff from other departments to assist in areas that require manpower, like front desk staff helping out with room service, he added.

On the new minimum salary, Chia said it is implemented at the wrong time.

“(Foreign) tourists have yet to come.

“The government did not give us a break. We started seeing an influx of guests only in May.

“After the holidays, the weekday occupancy rate went down to 25%.”

Chia said he is appealing for the hotel industry to be exempted from implementing the revised minimum wage.

“Hear our demands,” he added. – May 30, 2022.