Hoteliers Want Government To Implement Full Lockdown

24 May 2021

Hoteliers Want Government To Implement Full Lockdown

The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) has urged the government to impose a full lockdown, instead of tighter movement restrictions, to effectively curb the spread of COVID-19 infections.

MAH noted that the hotel industry’s survival depends on Malaysia’s ability to control the spread of the virus, which would then enable the easing of travel restrictions, reported Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

It believes that limiting office capacity and business hours would only prolong the situation.

It revealed that Malaysia’s hotel industry has suffered RM5 billion in losses since January, which is worse compared to the RM6.53 billion loss registered for the whole of 2020.

Check Out The 8 Things To Keep In Mind After MCO If You’re Living In A High Rise!

MAH underscored that the industry registered an estimated loss of RM300 for every two weeks of the movement control order (MCO). With this, the association called the government to extend more assistance for hotels.

The Malaysian Budget and Business Hotel Association, on the other hand, accused the government of abandoning the industry during the third MCO regime.

“Many more measures can be taken into account to reduce our burden but the government has failed to implement anything,” said its President Emmy Suraya Hussein as quoted by FMT.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz explained why the government decided not to implement a full lockdown, saying it would cause more harm to the people.

According to him, a full shut down of the economy will see 2.8 million high-risk informal workers losing their source of income, while 1 million people would be left unemployed.

He added that 68% of businesses had no sales or revenue during the MCO last year, while 42.5% of businesses needed over six months to recover. Two out of three business also had outstanding debts within six months.

Tengku Zafrul’s explanation came after Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government has decided to implement stricter movement restrictions, instead of full lockdown, to protect the livelihoods of the people.

 

Have a question about the property market? Post them on AskGuru and let our experts help you!

POST COMMENT

You may also like these articles

Virus Outbreak: Malaysian Hotels Lost RM40m In Revenue

Hotels in Malaysia suffered a RM40 million loss in revenue as the 2019 novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak resulted to 95,972 room cancellations, revealed the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH).“We

Continue Reading11 Feb 2020

Critical Construction Works To Proceed Despite MCO

Despite the stop-work order at all construction sites within states that were placed under the Movement Control Order (MCO), certain types of construction work that are considered essential services w

Continue Reading13 Jan 2021

MCO Led To Six-Month Delay In Construction Work Nationwide

The Movement Control Order (MCO) rolled out by the government to curb the spread of COVID-19 has resulted to a six-month delay in construction work nationwide, affecting the construction and housing d

Continue Reading24 Feb 2021

Marriott International To Manage Two IOI Properties' Hotels

IOI Properties Group Bhd has inked agreements with Marriott International Inc for the management of its two signature hotels within IOI Resort City in Putrajaya – namely, Palm Garden Hotel and Putra

Continue Reading20 May 2021

REHDA Selangor Calls For Tighter SOPs, Against Another Lockdown

The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (REHDA) Selangor has warned against the imposition of a full-scale lockdown of economic activities, saying it could lead to “serious revenue and f

Continue Reading21 May 2021