KL's tourism suffering due to war, pneumonia fears
KL's tourism suffering due to war, pneumonia fears
Hazlin Hassan, Agence France Presse, Kuala Lumpur
The war in Iraq and a mysterious pneumonia sweeping Asia and some other parts of the world are expected to deal a double blow to Malaysian tourism.
"We receive around five to six cancellations a day now," a spokesman for the exclusive Pangkor Laut Resort told AFP.
Once voted the second-best island destination in the world by Conde Nast Traveler, it is now experiencing a mere 35 percent occupancy rate.
Many of the cancellations were by European and Japanese visitors, who cited war jitters and pneumonia concerns, she said.
A spokesman for Berjaya Hotels and Resorts said some five to 10 percent of their bookings had been canceled since the launch of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.
Several hotels have slashed prices. The five-star Mutiara Beach resort on Penang island is offering their deluxe rooms for the equivalent of US$76 instead of the usual $92.
"So far, we've had very few cancellations due to the war," a spokesman for Mutiara said.
The four-star Holiday Villa situated on a beach on Langkawi island has cut its rates for a standard room to $53 from $91, and a deluxe to only $55 from $103.
"We've only had one cancellation so far. Our guests, who are mainly from the United Kingdom and Australia, have yet to be affected by what's going on in the world," a Holiday Villa spokesman said.
She added however that the occupancy rate for April was expected to be 40 percent.
Azrul Azwar, an economist at MIDF Sisma Securities forecast that tourism arrivals would drop to 12.9 million this year from 13.3 million in 2002.
"This is a drop from our initial forecast of 13.56 million tourists for 2003," he said.
As the country's second largest foreign exchange earner, the dip in tourism would badly affect the economy, he told AFP.
He said the highly-contagious respiratory disease called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was "even deadlier than the war in Iraq".
"This health concern could not have come at a worse time amid grim economic prospects as a fallout of the U.S.-led war in Iraq," he said.
The war is confined to a specific area while the rapid spread of SARS has turned it into a world-wide threat, he said.
The mystery disease, spread through direct close contact with an infected person, has caused at least 17 deaths and 456 "suspected or probable" cases around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO has not recommended any travel restrictions but the perception of the virus in Europe has been dramatic and several countries, including Malaysia have advised their citizens against traveling to affected countries.
Although Malaysia has been spared from SARS so far, it is a matter of time before the emergency travel advisory includes Malaysia in the 'no-go' list given its proximity to affected countries in the region such as neighboring Singapore and Thailand, Azrul said.