Don’t increase your room rates indiscriminately, Sarawak tourism minister urges hoteliers

Malay Mail

KUCHING, April 18 — Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah today urged operators of budget and business hotels not to raise their room rates indiscriminately as it will affect both tourist arrivals and the tourism industry.

He noted that that rates were increased last year.

“You cannot keep on increasing, whether you are a three-star or a five-star hotel,” he told reporters during his Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at the Penview Convention Centre Kuching (PCCK) here.

He was responding to a warning by the Malaysian Budget and Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) that budget hotel owners were likely to hike their rates in the months to come due to the rise in operational costs.

“Well, for any increase, I believe there must be some consensus among the ones who manage hotels,” he said, adding that he has not been informed of any move by budget and business hotels in Sarawak to increase rates yet.

However, Karim noted that hotel room rates in Sarawak are considered very low.

Three days ago, the New Straits Times quoted MyBHA president Sri Ganesh Michiel as saying that room rates could go up by between 30 and 40 per cent over the next three months due to multiple factors linked to operational costs.