Hotels in the Northern states like Penang, Perak, Kedah and Perlis are looking forward to another round of “rip roaring” business with another long weekend coming at the end of this week and beyond.
Since next Monday is a public holiday in view of Wesak Day, surely many will take advantage of the long weekend to travel again since the lifting of travel restrictions.
In the aftermath of the Hari Raya holidays, the influx of guests is much welcomed as hotels are able to recoup and recover their losses after the lockdown and various movement restrictions on local and international travel.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH Penang Chapter) chairman, Tony Goh said that although the various hotels welcome the good business, they are in another dilemma.
“The shortage of workers is still haunting us, this hampers us from offering the best service to our guests.
“However, we are trying our very best to cope by multi-tasking and coping with the issue with other “out of the box” ideas to handle the situation. This also includes maximising staff functions and also closing certain food & beverage outlets to divert them to urgently needed sections of the hotel,” said Goh to Ipoh Hyperlocal.
In the meantime, they are also preparing for the Agong’s birthday (June 6) weekend and also the school holidays next month.
A similar sentiment was also shared by MAH Kedah/Perlis chapter chairman, Eugene Dass.
Hotels in Alor Setar and Langkawi are running at peak levels with a new hotel, the Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang opening recently.
“With another long weekend again we expect the holiday thrill to still continue. Local travels will still spearhead the season. Hotels are ready to brave another storm expecting 60% above for mainland hotels and 75% above for Resorts in Langkawi.
“We are also looking into alternative means to overcome the labour shortage. Many workers had taken long Raya leave and are reluctant to come back to work.
“We are also looking into privatising some of the department functions to overcome the staff shortage,” said Dass.
Meanwhile, Vincent Ee, MAH Perak chapter chairman said that they have to multi-skill staff and get administration staff to help out in the necessary areas.
“We are also recruiting for students who are waiting for SPM results with higher casual rate payments for the short term. In the long term we hope that the minimum wage level will attract new workers,” he added.
He also called on the authorities like MACP, PPM and other music copyright charges which are weighing them down. On top of this we are also faced with other local council fees too.
