M’sia lacks good hotels

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia still needs more high-end hotel rooms to cope with the current influx of tourists into the country.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the country is currently short of four- and five-star hotels, especially during peak travel periods. “We are not short of budget hotels or hotels that are rated three-star and below.

“However, when it comes to high-end hotels, tourists often complain that they couldn't get rooms,” she said after launching the “Destination Malaysia Website” by international hotel operator Accor here yesterday. Currently there are 135 four-star hotels and 87 five-star hotels in the country, but during peak travel seasons, the hotels are usually fully booked.

“Last year, we received about 24.6 million international tourists and we targeted 25 million tourists by the middle of this year,” said Dr Ng. “However, we had to re-adjust that figure in view of regional developments like the floods in Thailand and also the economic developments in Europe and the US.”

Even so, she added that the ministry is targeting to attract 36 million tourists and collect RM168bil in revenue in the year 2020.

To cope with the demand for high-end travel accommodation, the ministry said the country needs a total of 91,000 more hotel rooms. From this figure, 14,000 “five-star” rooms and 23,000 “four-star” rooms are needed.
-thestar online.