HOTELIERS are expecting a surge in business as the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festivities kick off next week but say it will not be comparable to last year’s high.

Malaysian Association of Hotels president Christina Toh said the current trend in hotel rooms nationwide indicate an increase in occupancy for the coming Raya season compared to occupancy in the last couple of months.

She, however, said the group does not foresee a meaningful increase in occupancy compared to the corresponding period last year.

“The average room rate pricing for Raya 2023 is similar to rates charged in 2022. Nevertheless, we must take note that the Raya season in 2022 was a much longer holiday period as it fell on the same weekend as Labour Day. 

“However, we do see an improvement overall in occupancy performance (for this year).”

MAH said its members reported an occupancy rate of 80-90% during the Labour Day-Hari Raya weekend and Wesak weekend last year.

They said occupancy rate during other months were between 50% and 60%.

Toh said four- and five-star hotels, too, were experiencing an uptick in room occupancy.

“Data from the last six months show a trend that points to a gap in consumer spending, where four- to five-star hotels are enjoying healthy growth. 

“This growth is also seen in budget hotels, which have seen an increase in occupancy yearly.”

On the flip side, she said three-star hotels are showing signs of slowdown in terms of occupancy. 

She said overall, occupancy rate for hotels nationwide, from January to March, was at 51%, down 15% compared to last year. 

Currently MAH has 1,066 members who operate 991 hotels with a total of 161,802 rooms.

Hotels are slowly recovering from the economic impact brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022. 

Slow month in Langkawi 

Meanwhile, hotel proprietors in Langkawi who are experiencing a bleak Ramadan are hoping that their business will see a boom in the coming week.

MAH in Langkawi is looking forward to an increase of 5-10% occupancy rate over the Raya holiday.

Its Kedah and Perlis chapter chairman Eugene Dass said it has been a slow month in the northern states but hotels are looking forward to more bookings as Raya approaches.

“It has been a slow Ramadan month. It’s really hard to predict (the occupancy rate) this time around.

“But, we are looking at foreign travellers and also foresee domestic travel picking up next week,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He said compared to last the year when most hotels were doing brisk business, movement had been slow recently.

This, he said, could be due to people spending less for the festivities amid the weak local economy.

“It is largely due to the economic situation in the country now. People are cautious and not spending money.

“But there could be a last-minute surge or people coming in.”

Eugene also said people were spending fewer days in Langkawi.

“It’s about two to three days compared to last year when they stayed for about four or five days.”

The MAH chapter in Kedah and Perlis oversees about 54 hotels. – April 14, 2023.