THE Malaysian hotel industry, which was one of the hardest hit sectors during the pandemic, looks set to finally begin its much-needed path to recovery.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president Datuk N Subramaniam says the resumption of economic activities, relaxation of Covid-related restrictions and recent reopening of international borders will pave the way for the local hotel sector’s recovery.
However, he emphasises that it may take as long as a year for the hotel industry to return to pre-pandemic levels.
“To be more realistic, it will take up to a year for us to go back to our pre-pandemic days.
“We will have to wait, if we want to see occupancy rates go up to between 60% and 80% again,” he tells StarBizWeek.
In light of the recent Hari Raya festive season and allowance of interstate travel, Subramaniam says it was mostly the hotels outside of the Klang Valley that enjoyed high occupancy rates.
