Туристы вернутся в Саравак: индустрия не опасается смога в межсезонье

KUCHING: The haze enveloping Sarawak may have deterred some tourists, but travel and tour industry players here are not too worried as it is the off-peak period. They are also optimistic that tourists will return during the peak period from later this month to December. Their return could coincide with the North-East Monsoon, which normally begins around November. The monsoon winds are expected to clear the skies. "The haze has disrupted our visitor arrivals," Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) president Audrey Wan Ullok said on Monday (Sept 7). However, she said that the haze, first reported in August, happened at the tail end of the northern hemisphere's summer travel season. "Our peak period has started to taper off. That probably is a blessing in disguise," added Audrey, who manages a family-owned hotel chain. She said the haze-related drop in visitor arrivals was minimal and manageable. Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH) Sarawak chapter chairman John Teo Peng Yew, meanwhile, said tourists who cancelled visits were mostly from other parts of the region who are also experiencing the transboundary haze. The haze has also disrupted travel plans of domestic visitors from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Labuan. Teo, who is also the general manager of a hotel in Miri, said only tourists from European countries continued to come. "We are unlikely to see many locals at (tourists spots as they) prefer not to travel and just stay at home." Teo said MAH member hotels' occupancy rate in August fell by just 10% as a result of the drop in arrivals. "If there is no haze, hotels in Sarawak at this time of the year normally experience an occupancy rate of around 80%," he noted. Hotels, particularly in the northern Sarawak town of Miri, fared much better than hotels elsewhere in the state as the drop was cushioned by tourists from Brunei during the sultanate's school holidays from Aug 7 to 23, he said. According to Teo, without the Brunei school holidays, the occupancy rate in Miri could have plummeted to as low as 50%. He said elsewhere in Sarawak, local travel during the school holidays from Aug 29 to Sunday (Sept 6) gave hotels some respite. "Most hotels were doing quite well in terms of occupancy rate," he added. There is also uncertainty over major outdoor events that usually draw large visitor numbers, like the Borderland concert at the Sarawak Cultural Village scheduled for on Saturday and Sunday (Sept 12 and 13) and the Kuching Marathon on Sept 27. About 14,000 local and international runners have signed up for the marathon while the concert, if it continues, is expected to feature over 40 international and local electronic music performers. Despite the haze setback, Teo said hotel bookings for the last quarter "still look positive". "September to December have always been the better months for the hotel business in Sarawak," he added. He also remained confident that the state's target of five million tourist arrivals this year will be met. He said Sarawak should see more foreign arrivals via Brunei, with Miri enjoying a spillover from foreign tourists in Brunei crossing over. Sarawak and Brunei recently started to transport tourists by bus from Brunei airport to Miri three times a day. "From Miri, these tourists can take a bus to Bintulu, Sibu and even Kuching," Teo added. Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates! Sarawak , Tourism , Travel , Hotels , Visitor Arrivals , Audrey Wan Ullok , Sarawak Tourism Federation , John Teo , Malaysian Association Of Hotels