Reviving interest in Taman Negara

Taman Negara is undoubtedly one of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world and has long drawn many nature lovers and explorers. But the national park often falls of the radar of the larger public.

Nonetheless, Mutiara Taman Negara general manager Nathan Vaithi hopes to revive interest in Taman Negara and has been tirelessly approaching various government departments to help promote the national park.

“People do not really know much about Taman Negara. We only have about 2.2 million locals who visit the forest every year, compared to our population of 27 million. Most of the visitors we get there are foreigners,” he said. Vatihi noted that the Dutch make up the bulk of foreign visitors to Taman Negara.

Mutiara Hotels & Resorts is part of the Tradewinds Hotels and Resorts group.
Currently, there are two Mutiara Hotels in Malaysia, one in Taman Negara and the other in Johor Baru. Vaithi started in the hotel and leisure industry some 23 years ago in the housekeeping department. He has been with the Tradewinds group of hotels for four years and was promoted to oversee Mutiara Taman Negara early this year.

Mutiara Taman Negara has been in operations for 22 years. But the hotel has recently been given a RM6mil facelift to draw more visitors. According to Vaithi, the hotel has been given a brand new lobby and bathrooms as well as concrete walkways as part of the refurbishment. New facilities have also been added to the rooms such as televisions, minibars and safes.

“After the refurbishment, it is pretty much a new hotel. And we want to shout that out to the world because people still have this notion that the place is shabby and rundown. It is not anymore. We are easily a four-star hotel,” he said.

The hotel has a total of 103 rooms including chalets, dormitories and guest houses. Average annual occupancy rate is 60% but Vaithi said occupancy has increased to an average of 70% year-to-date. 

New look: Mutiara Taman Negara has been given a facelift to draw more visitors.

Unlike most hotels which are packed during the year-end period or during school holidays, Mutiara Taman Negara sees its peak season during the months of July and August as the year-end is the monsoon season.

“We were fully occupied last month and average room rate for last July was about RM343, which is higher than most hotels,” Vaithi noted.

Mutiara Taman Negara is also drafting out several tour packages and activities to boost visitor numbers to the national park. “We are also working on marketing the place as well as our hotel to corporate clients to tap into the seminar markets,” he said.

So far, Vaithi is happy with the outcome of his efforts as the various promotional activities by Mutiara Taman Negara is starting to bear fruits.
-thestar online.
http://www.mutiarahotels.com/taman-negara/