The sights and sounds of traffic crawl and vehicles plying the city's thoroughfares have returned from its exodus in 2020. These are commonplace in a metropolis but were once deserted in 2020 due to Covid-19.
Today, with a vaccination rate inching above 79% in the country and booster shots made available to every eligible citizen, the city is as alive as it once was except probably for the microeconomic numbers to support it and disrupted too by the rising inflation.
Welcome to 2022, a time when city-dwellers in Klang Valley are well acquainted with all the SOPs rolled out by the government but at some point since 2020, fatigue set in, and many have become immune to the statistics instead of the virus. But that is to be expected seeing the sometimes-questionable handling of the pandemic which raised more questions than answers. But in coming back to the main subject here, the most active property market of the country, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor have weathered through the meltdown resiliently. For the first nine months of 2021, Kuala Lumpur registered a 10.5% rise in the volume of overall property transactions and an even higher increase of 53.2% in the value of the transactions, compared to the same period the year before. Selangor also experienced a similar trend, with the volume of overall transactions going up by 10.5% and the value of the transactions recording a 21.2% increase. Combined, the volume and value of overall transactions for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor went up from 47,145 units worth RM35 billion in the first nine months of 2020 to 52,096 units with a value of RM45.5 billion over the same period in 2021.
The astounding revival seems surreal but if statistics by JPPH are proven to be accurate, certain sub-sectors of the Klang Valley's property market might have just bottomed out in 2021 and looking to trudge back to its glory days before the next foreseeable interruption on the cards – the 15th General Elections.
Residential - Factors to Watch in 2022
•The improving trade statistics and employment figures will help boost investor and consumer confidence.
•The Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2020/21 has helped to generate demand for residential properties but since there is no announcement for an extension into 2022 by the government, buying interest may reduce in intensity in 2022.
•Developers will be making more extensive use of proptech apps to develop a better understanding of their buyer's profiles and preferences as well as develop a closer rapport with the buyers. Developers have also increasingly turned to online marketing programmes to reach out to both domestic as well as overseas markets.
•The profile of buyers is now younger and they are in their 20's and 30's.
•AirBnB activities have been curtailed by travel restrictions due to Covid-19 and this has lessened the attractiveness of residential properties targeted at short term renters.
•The residential market's focus in 2022 will continue to be on:
a.landed homes;
b.affordable homes priced around and under RM500,000;
c.smaller sized units; and
d.niche high-end projects in good locations.
•The primary market is faring better than the secondary market because of the incentives given by developers and the government under the HOC but this may change now that the HOC has ended.
•Some banks are now refocusing on the secondary market because borrowers are perceived to be financially more well off and less likely to default. Moreover, there have not been many higher priced homes launched over the past two years and buyers who are interested in such homes will have to look for them in the secondary market.
•The undertaking of mega infrastructure projects will benefit areas in the vicinity of these projects and provide a strong motivation to invest in homes in these areas.
•There is a strong possibility that the 15th General Elections may be held in 2022 even though the last date for holding the elections is on or before July 2023 and the uncertainty which will pervade the investment climate in the period before and immediately after the elections may cause house buyers to hold back on their home purchases.
•There was a lack of substantial measures announced in Budget 2022 to boost the residential property market.
Residential - Bright Spots for 2022
•The reopening of all sectors of the economy except the night entertainment business will lead to a recovery of the economy and boost investor and consumer confidence. This will ultimately benefit the residential property market.
•Bank Negara is not expected to raise interest rates substantially and buyers will continue to take advantage of the current low interest rates to buy their dream homes. Nevertheless, some economists have projected a rise in interest rates by BNM in 2022 and may have some impact on the demand for property, depending on how much is the increase in the interest rates.
•The government will extend the Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) arrangements with more countries and this will increase the inflow of foreigners, both tourists as well as investors, into the country. Foreign property buyers may return once international borders are lifted but the increase in numbers is not expected to be significant due to travel restrictions and concerns about the emergence of new variants of the Covid-19 virus as well as the stricter rules for new MM2H (Malaysia My 2nd Home) applicants.
•The removal of RPGT (Real Property Gains Tax) for property disposals after the fifth year may lead to the vendors reinvesting their sales proceeds in the market and thus provide a boost to the market.
After the poor performance of the pandemic hit 2020, the residential market showed signs of a recovery in the first nine months of 2021 as the volume of residential transactions in the country inched up by 2.6% compared to the same period in 2020 whilst the value of transactions went up by a higher margin at 16%. This comes on the back of a 14% decline in the corresponding period of 2019 to 2021. Consistent with the country's performance, both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor also recorded better numbers in volume and value of transactions.
For Kuala Lumpur, the volume of transactions increased by 10% whereas, for Selangor, it went up by 11.5%. Value-wise, Kuala Lumpur recorded a jump of 21.4% to RM6.86 billion from RM5.65 billion. Selangor on the other hand increased by 11.6% to RM18.02 billion from almost RM14.70 billion.
Home sales continued to be affected by the various phases of lockdowns in 2021, especially during MCO 3.0 (3 to 31 May 2021) and continued by the FMCO (Full MCO; from 1 June 2021). Developers however reported better sales take-up rates when movement restrictions were gradually eased after the strict lockdown of the FMCO in the first two weeks which was subsequently replaced by the 4-phase National Recovery Plan (NRP) beginning 15 June 2021.
Based on our research, the number of new residential property launches in the Klang Valley for the first nine months of 2021 increased to 35 projects, which is five times more than the same period in 2020. Selangor with 28 new launches was ahead of Kuala Lumpur with only 7. Nevertheless, the number of units launched was less than that of 2020, indicating that developers were more cautious and preferred instead to launch smaller projects or staggered their launches into several smaller phases to ensure a speedier sales take-up. In terms of property type, landed terrace/link houses dominated the new launches.
Sales performance from the new launches in 1H 2021 as reported by NAPIC was 24.7%, an improvement from the 12.9% recorded in 1H 2020 and the 17.0% in 2H 2020. Selangor recorded the highest number of new launches, capturing nearly 24.7% (4,114 units) of the national total with sales performance at 26.2%. Kuala Lumpur trailed closely with the second-highest number of new launches at 21.9% (3,651 units) but with a significantly lower sales performance of only 3.5%.
A random survey carried out by us on 13 new residential projects launched in 2020/2021 in the Klang Valley revealed that 9 of these projects have achieved sales of 70% and above, signaling that buying interest was still present and that the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2020-2021 has been quite effective in helping developers push sales.
In terms of overhang properties, Malaysia's nationwide total went up to 31,112 units valued at RM20.1 billion as at Q2 2021 before easing to 30,358 units worth RM19.80 billion in Q3 2021. The 754 units or 2.42% reduction in a quarter was boosted by the HOC where the value of the overhang properties also came down by 1.49%. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor had the third and fourth highest number of overhang residential properties with 3,863 and 3,376 units respectively while Johor kept its lead with 6,509 units.
In terms of price movement, the House Price Index (HPI) released by NAPIC for Q2 2021 showed that Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest decline of 5.2% compared to the national average of -1.2% with Selangor sliding only marginally by 1.6%. This pushed Kuala Lumpur's average all house price down to RM744,965 from RM785,457 over the same period with Selangor's dropping to RM482,018 from RM489,811.
The HPI continued to decline in Q3 2021, easing 0.7% y-o-y and 1.9% from the previous quarter. All house types also recorded declines for Q3 2021 with terrace houses coming down by 1.0%, semi-detached by 3.6%, detached by 2.5%, and high-rise by 2.9%.
Residential Outlook 2022
The residential market showed an improvement in 1H 2021 but was then affected by the lockdown imposed during the FMCO in the first half of Q3. On the whole, after witnessing some resilience and returning of interest in the market post-lockdown, Klang Valley's residential property market is expected to record a flattish to slight improvement for the whole of 2021.
Aside from the market performance, borrowers continue to face problems securing maximum loan margins from banks due to the stricter processing criteria that has been adopted by the financial institutions for some time while interest from foreign investors is also not expected to return in a big way as some travel restrictions will still be in place even after international borders are reopened. Moreover, the latest rules for new applicants under the Malaysia My 2nd Home programme (MM2H) have made it less attractive for foreigners to apply for visas under the pseudo-migration or residency scheme and this will lead to a decline in interest and ultimately reduce the number of residential properties sold to foreigners.
Purpose-Built Offices Overview
The supply of privately owned purpose-built offices (PBOs) in Kuala Lumpur went up marginally by 1.25% from 9.275 million sq metres in 2H 2020 to 9.391 million sq metres in Q3 2021 whereas the supply of PBOs in Selangor stood at 4.075 million sq metres.
In Kuala Lumpur, four buildings were completed in the second half of 2021 which contributed 416,000 sq metres of nett lettable floor space to the supply of office space in the capital. There were also another 16 buildings under various stages of construction with 1 million sq metres due for completion over the next few years.
In Selangor, one building with a net lettable area of 46,000 sq metres of space was completed in 2H 2021 whilst its incoming supply will add another 412,000 sq metres of space over the next few years.
In addition, there are a number of proposed office developments that have been announced which, if the developers proceed with the construction, will add significantly to the future supply in Kuala Lumpur. Some of these also involve the redevelopment of existing buildings but in view of the slowdown in the economy and the consequential tapered demand for office space due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic including the glaring oversupply, some of these projects may not be launched in the immediate future. They are:
•Lot 185 KLCC – 500,000 sq ft of retail & office space & a hotel
•Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) Signature Tower by Eco World Development Group Bhd
•Former Brickfields District Police Headquarters and Barracks – Seni Nadi Land Sdn Bhd
•Tradewinds Square, Jalan Sultan Ismail (redevelopment of Kompleks Antarabangsa & Crowne Plaza Hotel) – proposed 110-storey corporate tower, 61-storey mixed use tower and a retail mall
•Tradewinds Towers – 50- and 26-storey office towers to be built on the former Menara Tun Razak site, Jalan Raja Laut
•New 60-storey office tower to be added to Menara Dayabumi
•Bandar Malaysia
As of Q3 2021, Kuala Lumpur's PBOs' occupancy declined to 70.58% from 77.6% the year before with those located outside the city centre spotting a lower occupancy of 67.5% compared to those within the city centre at 71.3%. Occupancy in Selangor was even lower at 66.9% down from 69.2% over the same period. The consistent decline is a reflection of the gloomy business climate in Klang Valley with continuous reports of closures and downsizing making its round on both the mainstream and social media. In line with that, the work from home (WFH) arrangement has also transformed the requirement for space in the office where instead of prioritising headcount attendance for maximum productivity, it is now led by adherence to the SOPs. This in itself may have rejigged the entire workforce and space requirement model to make way for better efficiency and profitability without compromising on health and safety. It is also worth noting that the occupancy levels recorded in Kuala Lumpur has been the lowest since 2005 with most years registering above 80% except only in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2019 dipping below that.
In looking at the substantial incoming supply of office space over the next few years, it is expected to result in an increase in vacancy rates when these new buildings are completed. This will undoubtedly add more pressure on the landlords to reduce rental rates in the coming years unless demand has a reason to increase substantially. But if not and in view of the current oversupply coupled with the impending release in the future, it should not surprise if some developers decide to defer their projects to avoid worsening the situation and risk the steep climb to fill up the vacant lots.
In terms of rental rates, NAPIC's report for the first half of 2021 showed a marginal decline of 0.1% in 1H 2021 in the rental index for Klang Valley's PBOs although there was concern over the drop in occupancy. The projected massive increase in the supply of office space over the next few years may as such assert downward pressure on occupancy rates and impact rental rates going forward.
With the market going into a phase of uncertainty in 2020 due to Covid-19, the year 2021 was not as buoyant in terms of office building transactions in Kuala Lumpur. Only two major transactions were observed involving Media Prima Bhd and Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd with the Employees Provident Fund (or KWSP) having put up several office buildings which it owns for sale but yet to be concluded, namely Bangunan KWSP on Jalan Raja Laut and Bangunan KWSP Changkat Raja Chulan both in Kuala Lumpur, and Bangunan KWSP Damansara Fairway in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The Paramount Group has also announced its intention to sell the two office buildings that it is building in Section 13 of Petaling Jaya in Selangor. The proposed sale of an 8-storey office building at Star Sentral in Cyberjaya by Awanbiru Technology Bhd to Serba Dinamik Group Bhd was however not completed and the deposit was forfeited.
Office Outlook 2022
The resumption of lockdowns under various phases of the MCO in 2021 has continued to impact the office sub-sector with businesses yet to recover fully from the slowdown suffered during the pandemic. Without any significant increase in demand for office space, occupancy rates of office buildings are expected to decline especially with the increase in supply resulting from the completion of several new buildings over the next few years.
The successful ramping up of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme has managed to gradually lower down the infection rates and this has influenced the government's Budget 2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan by incorporating measures that can boost economic growth after the pandemic and consequently raise business volumes that will lead to a recovery in the demand for office space in the future.
The recent emergence of Omicron has however caused governments throughout the world to exercise more caution and pull the handbrakes on unfettered international travel. The ability of the Malaysian government to prevent the spread of this and other new variants which could emerge in the future will be key to determine if the governmental leaders will be able to achieve a sustained economic recovery for the country.
Meanwhile, the office market is expected to face twin headwinds of a stagnant demand for office space and an increasing supply going into 2022. The political uncertainty emanating from the 15th General Elections which must be held on or before July 2023 will continue to cause investors and businesses to be more cautious. The hope of a more stable political situation which supports sustained economic recovery will only come about after the dust has settled post-elections and a government with a strong mandate has been formed. It is only after these important milestones are achieved will the country be able to see its economy standing on a stronger footing and be ready for future growth which in turn will fuel demand for office space and help the office sub-sector recover.
Retail
At the conclusion of the year in December 2021, Klang Valley (ie. Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya) had 286 shopping centres with more than 7.7 million sq metres of retail space. Adding to these were two new shopping centres and one mall extension which opened in 2021, contributing a total nett floor area of more than 215,000 sq metres.
In 2022, at least 7 more new shopping centres and 1 mall extension are expected to open across Klang Valley with a total nett floor area exceeding 430,000 sq metres and this includes IOI City Mall's Phase 2 and The Exchange TRX contributing more than 92,000 sq metres and exceeding 120,000 sq metres of nett lettable area respectively.
On the whole, the average occupancy rate of shopping centres in the Klang Valley declined from 73.5% in 2020 to 72.3% in 2021. The drop in Kuala Lumpur was from 75.9% in 2020 to 74.6% in 2021 and in Selangor from 71.0% in 2020 to 69.7% in 2021. Consistent with the previous year, the decline is attributed mainly to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and also the emergence of the Covid-19 Delta variant. Despite the pandemic, the average occupancy rate of shopping centres in Putrajaya maintained at 83.6% in 2021.
Klang Valley's average rental rate on the other hand dropped marginally from RM108.71 psm per month in 2020 to RM108.60 psm per month in 2021. This average however does not take into account the rental rates of anchor tenants such as the supermarkets, department stores, cineplexes, bowling alleys etc, or the rental waivers and rental discounts given to anchor as well as selected tenants.
The decline in the average rental rates for 2021 also did not factor in rebates extended by many shopping centre owners to the retailers across the various stages of the lockdowns. Rental rebates and rental reduction were in fact offered by the owners in order to retain existing tenants so a win-win situation can be achieved for both parties. However, only the financially more viable tenants were able to accept the restructured rental package.
Through the two major lockdowns of the MCO 2.0 and MCO 3.0 (including parts of the initial two weeks of the National Recovery Plan) in 2021, a majority of the retail trade were ordered to close and just like in 2020, Malaysian retailers turned to online shopping platforms and deliveries to stay alive. This repeat occurrence saw online shopping becoming a major channel of distribution of retail goods and services. But shopping habits changed again when retail stores were allowed to reopen and F&B outlets permitted to have dine-in guests. The loosening of these restrictions affected online purchases significantly as most Klang Valley residents preferred going back to their favourite physical outlets instead of continuing their purchases online.
But despite the major lockdowns, several retail and services trades in Klang Valley have actually thrived in 2021, they are:
•Small-format grocery-related shops such as the mini-markets, snacks' specialty stores, food specialty stores and ready-to-eat convenience stores that were also small-sized grocery stores in itself enjoyed better sales during the lockdown and were able to compete directly with the supermarkets and hypermarkets.
•Fixed-price and second-hand stores became popular in 2021 due to their very affordable retail goods.
•Courier service providers expanded aggressively during the last two years to capitalise on the high demand for delivery goods eg. POSstore had the most outlets with more than 700 in Malaysia.
•In spite of the many closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysian individuals and companies were still investing in new F&B outlets such as cafes, restaurants, food stalls, food kiosks and food trucks.
•The popularity of food delivery during the pandemic gave birth to cloud kitchens in the Klang Valley. Operators included Foodpanda, Grab Kitchen, My Ghost Kitchen, Cookhouse, Cloud Hawker, Kloud Kitchen, Kitchen Connect, Delivery Ghost Kitchen, Foodle, COOX, TapasTapas Cloud Kitchen, Go Virtual Kitchen, KitchenCo, kEATchen, Makan Factory, Foodlab etc.
Retail Outlook 2022
Shopping traffic returned to all major shopping malls across the country since November 2021 and in Klang Valley, they are packed with shoppers and diners on the weekends where even long traffic crawl in the car parks is spotted again, reminisce of the pre-pandemic days and certainly shows that the normal shopping behaviour and pattern have returned among the city folks. Thus far, almost all retail trades have been allowed to open for business with the exception of only the night entertainment outlets.
Looking back, retail businesses that used to depend on tourists have been receiving good response since mid-October 2021 when the interstate travel ban was lifted with shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur city centre, Petaling Jaya, Damansara and Bandar Sunway welcoming fellow Malaysians from other states in large numbers. As such, Klang Valley's shopping traffic is expected to continue growing until February 2022 courtesy of Christmas on 25 December 2021 and Chinese New Year on 1 February 2022.
The new Covid-19 variant known as Omicron and any other potentially more dangerous variant thereafter will however undermine the ability of Malaysian shopping centres to fully recover in 2022. The risks of another total lockdown in the near future continues to haunt Malaysian mall owners and its retail tenants.
Although shoppers have made their way back to the malls, foreign tourists remain absent in Malaysia and this may take another six months before meaningful number of arrivals can be seen in the country. The troublesome entry requirements imposed on foreign arrivals are one of the factors hindering leisure tourists from coming and this shall negatively impact major shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur city centre, Petaling Jaya, Damansara, Sunway and Sepang which were among the favourites of foreign tourists in 2019.
Moving forward, shopping centres slated for opening in the Klang Valley in 2022 are expected to face some headwinds primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the current oversupply of retail space. This will see malls struggling to fill up the retail lots right from day one.
In order to attract permanent tenants to open in their shopping centres, it would be imperative for retail landlords to lower their rental rates and/or offer longer rent-free periods. They may also need to seek temporary tenants to fill up the empty lots, especially at prime locations, as a stop gap measure to get things going or if not, for its cash flow consideration.
The Covid-19 pandemic has undeniably forced retail landlords to pay more attention to greater digitisation of their businesses if they didn't do so previously. This will compel more investments in digital infrastructure (including software, hardware and human) in the new normal for an omnichannel shopping experience allowing shoppers to buy goods and services in multiple formats with ease.
Industrial
A rebound was seen in the industrial property sub-sector in the Klang Valley in the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. The volume and value of industrial property transactions in Selangor went up in 2021, rising 18% and 13% respectively compared to the corresponding period in 2019. In Kuala Lumpur, although the volume and value of industrial properties are only a fraction of the size of neighbour Selangor, it also experienced a 16% upward movement in volume of transactions and up 67% in value of transactions between the first nine months of 2020 and the same period in 2021. The positive trajectory comes on the back of a significant drop in the same period the year before with Selangor's and Kuala Lumpur's volume of transactions eroding by 32% and 45% respectively while in terms of value of transactions, the slide was marginal for Selangor at 0.33% but larger in Kuala Lumpur at 49%. As such, based on the positive rise of the first nine months of 2021 alone, the market appeared to be on a recovering trend with Selangor's value of transactions steaming ahead by exceeding the RM5.2 billion recorded in the same period in 2019.
Some of the more notable deals concluded in the industrial sub-sector in 2021 are:
•Axis REITs' purchase of Melewar Steel Services Sdn Bhd in Shah Alam (Section 15) for RM11 million and FIW Steel in Taman Perindustrian Bukit Raja, Shah Alam, for RM120 million.
•LOGOS SE Asia joint venture with Global Vision Logistics to develop sustainable integrated logistics, warehousing and e-commerce hub on three parcels of land collectively measuring approximately 71 acres in Section 16, Shah Alam.
•LOGOS joint venture with Sime Darby to develop a 177 acres site in Bandar Bukit Raja for a build-to-suit for lease or sale model.
The e-commerce sector continued to do well and contributed to the strong demand for logistics, warehousing and sorting & distribution facilities as well as data centres. With the reopening of the economy, most manufacturing businesses were able to restart and proceed with their normal operations in the second half of 2021. Demand for industrial properties in the near term will remain stable especially for companies who require specific industrial properties to suit their business needs.
Industrial Outlook 2022
With the success achieved in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the government has refocussed their attention to boosting the economy to help businesses recover from the drastic impact of the pandemic. It goes without saying that a strong and sustained economic recovery would augur well for the industrial property market as demand will rise to support business expansion activities and with it, contribute to the country's exports and GDP.
Industrial - Factors to Watch in 2022
•Recovery of FDIs which saw an improvement in the first nine months of 2021 should lead to an increase in demand for more industrial space.
•The ability of manufacturers to scale up production on the back of a relaxation in SOPs.
•Restrictions imposed by the government on the import of foreign labour will affect manufacturers' ability to expand production.
•Implementation of the 12th Malaysia Plan and the projects under the National Investment Aspirations as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) will be positive for the industrial property sector.
•The continued good trade performance recorded by the country in 2021 will benefit the manufacturing industry which will in turn benefit the industrial property sector.
•Implementation of the Smart Selangor Action Plan to 2025 (SSAP 2025) which will focus on the following key areas will provide a boost to the manufacturing and services sectors:
odigitalisation of industries: services, manufacturing or agriculture with a focus on SMEs.
ocreation of ecosystems to enable industries to compete better and scale up using digital technologies.
odevelopment of next generation industries of strategic interest to the state.
•The various strategies that will be adopted by Selangor in its quest to become a global business hub via the Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS) 2021 which was held from 18 to 21 November 2021 will also benefit the industrial sector.
Hospitality
The performance of the tourism industry continued to be constrained by the travel restrictions under MCO 3.0 and FMCO in 2021 with hotel occupancy greatly affected by it. According to the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), hotel occupancy rates were projected to be in the low 20% in the first half of 2021 and worse off than 2020.
Statistics gathered from Tourism Malaysia also showed the sub-par performance where the average occupancy rates of hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor for the first half of 2019 and 2020 dipped below 30% except Putrajaya and consistent with the national average of 27.8%. This trend is expected to continue into 2021 for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
Hospitality Outlook 2022
The lifting of the interstate travel in October 2021 has led to an increase in domestic tourism and helped jumpstart the otherwise hibernating tourism market. With many locals still unable to travel outside the country and enticed by the attractive packages offered by hotels including the plethora of domestic tourist attractions, many took the opportunity to travel and holiday within the country especially in popular destinations like Penang and Langkawi. The success of the Langkawi Domestic Travel Bubble pilot project has established tried and tested SOPs which may, with some tweaks and improvements, be implemented for the rest of the country.
The establishment of the VTL (Vaccinated Travel Lane) with Singapore in December 2021 and with other countries in early 2022 would also have helped bring back foreign tourists if not for the momentary suspension due to the new Covid-19 variant of Omicron. With KLIA being the main entry point into the country, the reinstatement of VTL should augur well for the hospitality industry in the Klang Valley.
Under Budget 2022, the government has allocated a sum of RM1.6 billion to assist the tourism industry which has been badly affected by the pandemic and this will help the industry to recover to some extent. And although a total of 120 hotels nationwide were reported to have closed either permanently or temporarily in 2020/21, there were still a number of new hotels which opened in spite of the closures, including several hotels which are due for opening in 2022 and beyond. - Henry Butcher Malaysia