Big spender, where art thou?
IT’S the Arab tourist season now, but tour and travel agents, hotel operators and shopping complexes say that not many are making their way here.
Middle Eastern tourists, who would only confirm bookings closer to their trip, are shortening their stay and are choosing other destinations in the region, industry players said.
This tourist group is a major market for Malaysia due to their big spending power.
Although their numbers are small, they spend the most on an individual basis.
It was revealed in Parliament recently that their average spending was RM6,070 per person last year, three times higher than the average.
Between January and May this year, Middle Eastern tourists numbers have fallen by 4.4 per cent to 72,884.
“There appears to be a marginal drop. Apart from higher fuel prices, the Middle Easterners, after many trips to Malaysia, are now exploring neighbouring countries like Thailand and Indonesia,” president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Ngaim Foon said.
Dorsett Regency Kuala Lumpur in Jalan Bukit Bintang, which is normally fully booked during the Arab tourist season, is experiencing a decline.
“Generally, the number of Arabs has reduced … but we don’t know by how many yet. We forecast to finish July at an average occupancy of 90 per cent which is lower than last year,” its general manager Christina Toh said.
The general manager of Holiday Inn Glenmarie Anil Pathak said that the hotel expects occupancy rates to fall by up to 15 per cent compared with 2007 due to the increase in fuel prices which has resulted in higher air ticket prices.
Malls are also feeling the pinch.
“Shopping complexes which focus on Arab customers are seeing a marginal decline from this group as well as the quality of the tourists as their buying power is not as strong as in previous years,” said Joyce Yap, president of the The Association for Shopping Complex and High-Rise Management.
However, Tourism Malaysia expects arrivals to pick up.
“It is still too early to say. We are optimistic that it will pick up during the peak season of July, August and September,” secretary-general of Tourism Malaysia Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng said.
Emirates Airlines also expects arrivals to improve. In fact, it added 15 more planes for the Dubai-Kuala Lumpur route, in anticipation of more demand.
“This translates to approximately 6,000 additional arrivals into Malaysia,” said country manager for Emirates in Malaysia Alban Lee.
