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.