Grim times for tourism, recovery four years away
KUALA LUMPUR: “It’s just dark. And I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel in the near future, but things will eventual get better,” said a former hotel vice-president who identified as Christopher, now a full time Grab driver after being retrenched in July last year.
The hardship encountered by Lee is faced by millions of tourism workers worldwide after Covid-19 sealed off borders and forced governments to implement lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus.
Facing an 80 per cent income reduction, Lee’s savings are being depleted, forcing him to tap into his retirement fund to maintain his daily expenses.
“It is just so difficult right now. All I can do is pray that things will get better soon,” said Lee who is in his early 40s.
The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), in a written reply to Bernama, said since the outset of the pandemic and the Movement Control Order (MCO), which was rolled out in March last year, the association has tracked approximately 90 hotels that had closed, either permanently or temporarily.
“This affects over 7,000 employees directly, and industry wide more than 12,000 had been retrenched while others are either on a pay-cut or unpaid leave,” MAH chief executive officer Yap Lip Seng said.
Yap, who is also the MAH Training and Education Centre (MAHTEC) chief executive officer, said with the situation now worsening, hotel occupancy is expected to drop lower than it was in March and April 2020.
Hotel occupancy for the month of January 2021 dropped sharply to as low as 20 per cent right after the announcement of the MCO 2.0, and cancellation of bookings were recorded across the country, including for the coming Chinese New Year period.