KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Association of Hotels (MAH) today disputed news reports that hotel bookings in Langkawi experienced a surge just one hour after the government announced the resumption of domestic tourism activities under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).
The association's acting president, Halim Merican, said the "one thousand hotel bookings" did not take place as claimed by Langkawi Tourism Association (LTA) chief executive officer Zainudin Kadir on Sunday.
The LTA had claimed that the surge in bookings occurred shortly after Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced yesterday the implementation of the RMCO, with lenient movement restrictions from June 10 until Aug 31.
Zainuddin was quoted as saying that the LTA had received 1,000 bookings in an hour from 4pm until 4.45pm yesterday.
"The chairman for the Kedah and Perlis chapter of MAH, Eugene Dass, along with member hotels from Langkawi clarified that as much as the industry would love to see such a surge in hotel bookings, the one thousand hotel bookings did not take place", he said.
Halim said the news caused much anxiety and raised concerns among hoteliers and their employees, and they wonder how such flawed information could spread through reputable news agencies.
"While the LTA claims to represent tourism stakeholders of the popular island, little is known of its membership and the source of data reported.
"A quick search on the internet revealed a defunct webpage offering investment and stock exchange, banking and business consulting services among others.
"Similarly, its Facebook page is also inactive," MAH said in the statement.
Zainuddin was also quoted as saying that the surge is a record, and positive start for the tourism industry after months of declining businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.