By V. Sivaji
The Malaysian Association of Hotels (Penang Chapter) held its annual general meeting (AGM) at the Wembley Hotel with a full turnout of general managers from the various hotels here.
This year, being a non- election year, presiding chairman, Raj Kumar who is also the general manager of the Light Hotel will continue his tenure.
Meanwhile, the general manager of the Lexis Suites, Ben Ho, is the vice chairman.
“Hotels in Penang are bleeding due to the Covid-19 pandemic and we badly need the assistance of the state and federal governments.
“Although we appreciate the 10 per cent discount for the electricity bill announced recently, it is only a very small consolation. This is because we also face a surcharge by TNB for not utilizing the allocated power supply by them.
“Overall, the discount from TNB is cancelled out by this surcharge,” said Raj at the press conference.
He repeated his calls for “out of the box” initiatives like giving out room stay and F & B vouchers to frontliners to be cross sold in neighbouring states.
“We can only depend on domestic tourism until international borders are open.
“As such, we have put forward several issues to the Penang state government to promote Penang as a “safe destination” to rebuild confidence.
“We also do not know why we are left out from the incentives from the federal government although tourism is the fourth largest contributor to the economy,” he added.
Commenting on the same topic, MAH vice president, Khoo Boo Lim called on local travellers to stay at proper hotels and not in AirBnB who do not have any SOPs.
“We also call on the media to spread the news on low room rates for hotels in Penang so that more people can enjoy their stay here,” added Khoo.
Also present was MAH chief executive officer, Yap Lip Seng.
