Story and pix by Chan Lilian
OVER 400 hoteliers and professionals from the hotel industry gathered in Penang on Nov 6 for the Malaysian Hotels Association (MAH), Penang Chapter biennial dinner at the Jen Hotel.
MAH Penang chairman Khoo Boo Lim (pix) reminded the hoteliers of their pivotal role in the services industry.
“There are never enough hotels in Penang. However, the industry needs to be regulated and hoteliers need to cooperate well with the tourism authorities and players. Remember, the real competition is from outside and not within. Penang has won many accolades and we need to work harder to justify that recognition. We cannot be complacent and it is only right that all of us step up to contribute to achieve that vision of making Penang the best place to visit and live in Malaysia,” hw said in his speech.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was present at the event, praised the industry.
“You have done great for the tourism industry. We know how important tourism is. Last year for the first time, the services industry exceeded the manufacturing sector in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) contribution. Tourism is a significant contributor towards Penang’s economic growth, and Penang has always been a major tourist destination. Tourism and the services industry are one of the two main economic drivers for Penang,” he said.
Lim also provided statistics from Tourism Malaysia (based on Hotel Survey) that Penang received 45.63% more hotel guests in 2014 compared to 2013, recording 6.85 million guests compared to 4.7 million in 2013.
“Despite the challenges of the economic downturn I am pleased that there are some hotels in Penang that have performed better than last year in terms of hotel occupancy. On the whole our hotel occupancy may have dropped by nearly 10% but is still much better than other states’ hotel occupancy that have dropped by more than 20%,” he added.