Ed Brea, general manager of the Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, said: “Everybody finished in excess of 85% (occupancy), we closed the month with about 96%.”
Malaysia’s tourism minister, Tengku Adnan Mansor, surprised the industry by responding with an announcement advising tour operators to “cool off”.
Brea also cautioned: “We can’t judge by the historically busy months of July and August.
Overall we’re all sitting in the mid-70s for the year.”
With 10.7 million international visitor arrivals during the first half of the year, Malaysia is on track to reach its record target of 20.1 million arrivals, a 15% increase on 2006’s figures
Following the marketing blitz, US$13 billion of investment is also expected to flood into
the nation.
The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre has been aggressively marketing the city in an effort to capitalise on the momentum.
“The shoulders around the big holidays are now filled with conference and incentive groups,
which is a very positive sign that the convention centre is doing a great job in bringing large
groups into the city,” said Brea.
With the Visit Malaysia campaign continuing through 2008, a renewed push for a single
Asean visa, two new economic zones in the country’s north and south, and discussions to
position Malaysia as a regional aviation hub, the success look set to continue.
Visit Malaysia campaign success leads to saturated hotel capacity
KUALA LUMPUR Some hotels in Kuala Lumpur have had to turn visitors away owing to the success of the combined celebrations for Malaysia's 50th anniversary of independence and the Visit Malaysia campaign.
