Northstar

4 | www.travelweekly-asia.com 4 | www.travelweekly-asia.com INDUSTRY VOICES Yap Lip Seng is CEO of Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), which represents the hotel industry of Malaysia with over a thousand strong hotel members in the country. He has worked in the hospitality and service industry since 1998 and covered various segments including property management, food & beverage and overall hotel. His longest stint was with Genting Malaysia Berhad where he last managed Resorts World Langkawi. 12 11 CONTENTS 6 CRUISE Dream big, dream global 8 CWA 2019 SPECIAL Cruise updates and news 12 DESTINATION: THAILAND Land of Smiles works on rustic charm 14 TECH TALKING Accor: Not every investment is a winner 17 TRAVEL AGENT A chat with ASTINDO's Pauline Suharno Dealing with challenges in Malaysia's hotel industry In 2014, Malaysia's tourism industry took a hit with two aviation disasters involving the national carrier, and the hotels component was not spared. Prior to that, tourist arrivals were strong with record 27.4 million arrivals, but instead of the expected increase in 2015, it dropped to 25.7 million. Till today, arrivals have yet to surpass 27 million. But developments in the hotel industry did not stop as investors' confidence in Malaysia was still strong. According to official figures from Tourism Malaysia, 2014 saw a record 4,072 hotels with 262,000 rooms; 2016 registered the highest count of 4,961 hotels with almost 322,000 rooms. In other words, while demand had dropped, supply had increased. That was not a good sign. While tourists were slowly coming back, the hotel industry faced another challenge: Home-sharing tourist accommodations. Early this year, Airbnb, arguably the most popular home-sharing platform in the market, announced that their platform currently has 53,000 listings in Malaysia, its fastest growing market in Southeast Asia. Given the lax regulations and zero to minimal enforcement, home-sharing took the industry head on and caused substantial damage. A quick check on home- sharing analytical website Airdna. co revealed that Airbnb has an estimated average turnover of at least RM130 million (US$31 million) per month, at only 50% occupancy of its total listing. Changing the approach A knee-jerk reaction for hoteliers would be to compete on pricing, but that would only lead to their own demise eventually. Instead, they should strive to add value especially in the area of service, its strongest asset against any competitor. Thankfully, technological and digital advancements have provided the industry with new tools to achieve this – be it through the enhancement of guest experience or back-of-house productivity. Hoteliers also need to adopt a more proactive marketing and revenue management approach rather than simply being reactive to market changes or influences. On managing yield, the balancing act of catering to domestic and international tourists is never easy. Compromising room rates on one side while struggling for volume, the weak Malaysian Ringgit does not do justice to the tourism industry. Hoteliers need to ensure room rates are optimised for a fair percentage of domestic market while at the same time maximised for yield with international tourists. In today's world, industry data analytics are more critical as knowing the market and competition could mean the hotel's very survival. Moving forward, hoteliers now play a stronger role in driving tourism as more are recognising the need to grow the entire market, and not just drive one's occupancy and rates. Hotels complement destinations by working to attract tourists through promotional initiatives. The existence of high-end brands such as The St Regis, The Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Banyan Tree and W Hotels help put Malaysia onto the world map. These brands also allow Malaysia to compete with neighbouring countries, and uplifts its overall tourism attractiveness. Gone are the days of you and me; this is the era of we and us – not just the hotel industry but the entire tourism industry. We need to work together to grow the market on a level playing field. Above: Dancers in traditional Thai costumes. Left: KOMTAR Rainbow Skywalk Below: Cruise ship at MBCCS, Singapore 8

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