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Malaysia: Hotel occupancy to pick up slightly in Q4
PETALING JAYA: Local hotel operators are expecting occupancy rates to pick up slightly in the final quarter of this year, according to a survey by the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH).
However, average occupancy rates, which have been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, are expected to continue remaining lacklustre for the remainder of 2020.
According to MAH, the average hotel occupancy rate is expected to be below 25% for the rest of the year.
The survey revealed that average occupancy rates are expected to be at about 21.7% this month and slightly lower at 20.8% in September.
The survey indicates that sentiment is expected to be slightly better in the last quarter of the year, with average occupancy rates anticipated to gradually increase slightly to 21.3%, 22.8% and 24.9% in October, November and December.
In terms of status of operations, MAH’s survey revealed that 62.8% of hotels are already fully operational, while 29.5% are partially operating.
Just 7.7% of operators responded that they were still not operating. Of this, 0.6% expect to be permanently closed until further notice, while 1.3% are expected to resume operations by January next year.
Additionally, 88% of hotel operators said they had received future bookings, while 12% responded that they had not received any.
The bulk of the bookings were from locals states, with Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Penang and Sarawak ranking in the top five.
In terms of future overseas bookings, these were led by tourists from Asean, Eastern Asia, Europe, Oceania and Western Asia.
Last month, Bernama reported that the tourism sector had seen a surge in hotel reservations nationwide with an increase of up to 30.74% until June.
Citing Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, (pic below) the report said hotels were being filled up by domestic tourists.
“In terms of hotel reservations, from March, the occupancy rate was 18.29%. In April, it dipped to 8.86% because of the (Covid-19) peak in Malaysia and in May, during the recovery movement control order, it was 9.63%.
“But until June 30, (occupancy) surged to 30.74%. This shows that the public is beginning to go out, they are brave enough to go out because the situation in the country is quite safe, ” Nancy was quoted as saying.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the local hotel and tourism sector is forcing some hotel operators to diversify their business.
Earlier this month, Impiana Hotels Bhd 
announced that it planned to diversify its core business to include property development, with the aim of improving earnings and enhancing shareholders’ value.
Impiana said the diversification would complement the group’s existing businesses of management and operation of hotels and resorts, property investment and hotel development.
“This will allow the group, in particular Impiana Cherating, to operate based on an asset-light model by selling service suites to investors and leasing them back to be operated as part of the resort. Meanwhile, management rights of the hospitality asset of the resort would be kept in-house.
“This will potentially strengthen the group’s profitability and cashflow, ” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
Impiana said the group remained focused on carrying on its existing core businesses within the various segments of the hospitality industry.
The hotel and tourism sector has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the quarter ended March 31,2020, Impiana registered a net loss of RM2.21mil on revenue of RM39.77mil.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2020/08/21/hotel-occupancy-to-pick-up-slightly-in-q4