Longhaul markets tapped for Malaysia homestays

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is going beyond Asia for its homestay programme, setting its sights on longhaul markets such as the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and Australia. Aiding in the effort is a new portal that enables online bookings and instant confirmation from individuals and groups. MalaysiaHomestays, developed by the Malaysia Homestay Cooperative and the Malaysia Homestay Association, and supported by the Tourism Ministry, went live on January 2.

Sahariman Hamdan, Malaysia Homestay Association president and Malaysia Homestay Cooperative chairman, said the portal offers fullboard packages and activities for FITs and backpackers from Central and Northern Europe and Australia. In the second quarter, tour operators promoting homestays will be invited to participate as corporate members to offer support services. Rashidi Hasbullah, undersecretary of the ministry’s Tourism Services division, said longhaul markets were already booking the homestay product, even without any promotions.

Europeans constituted 8.9 per cent of the 43,975 homestay visitors in the first 11 months of 2010. Australians and Americans comprised 4.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively. The bulk of homestay visitors were from Singapore (53.1 per cent) and Japan (21.3 per cent). Tourism Malaysia will promote the homestay programme at international fairs such as ITB Berlin and World Travel Market to increase occupancy and generate additional income for rural communities. The ministry has developed promotional materials in seven languages, including English, German and French. Malaysia has 2,987 homestay operators. Earnings in the first 11 months of 2010 came up to RM10.7 million (US$3.49 million), a 14.6 per cent hike over the same period in 2009.

-TTG Asia.