Sabah Hotels Must Adapt Quickly
Sabin, the proactive Mayor of KK, has reinstated the hotel licence fee on categories of occupied rooms. The reinstated fees for each occupied hotel room are RM4.65 per room/day for Class 1, RM2.65 per room/day for Class 2 and RM1.30 per room/day for Class 3. If the room is not occupied, no charge will be applied.
The previous fee was RM10 per room per year, which was likely levied many years ago. Hotel owners are the biggest investors, stakeholders, and beneficiaries in tourism. In 1999, the Sabah International Hotels Association estimated that investment in five-star hotels alone was RM3 billion. The open sky policy approved by Tun Mahathir was crucial for Sabah’s tourism industry, and as a result, tourism has prospered, and the number of hotels has increased significantly.
Sabah’s Tourism Minister, Christina, and Sabin are working together to enhance KK’s attractiveness as a destination. Christina’s hard work has led to an impressive recovery of Sabah’s tourism, particularly with tourists from China and South Korea. She has also established the new Sabah Convention Bureau to develop the MICE industry as a higher-end tourism sector.
Sabin has started cleaning KK’s waterfront, which will improve the city, and has plans to transform run-down areas into tourist spots. Christina and Sabin’s combined initiatives will improve KK’s tourism attractiveness and competitiveness. Hotel owners and management can supplement their efforts by lobbying the federal government to lower federal taxes on tourism in Sabah, such as service tax, import duties, and airport tax.
The federal government receives all the tourism taxes, while Sabah’s share is nominal. Hotel owners can provide comparative hotel licence fees from similar tourist destinations and collaborate with DBKK to make KK a top destination. They can also work with DBKK to add value to tourism products in KK, which will benefit the hotels, and help attract higher-value tourists to Sabah.
Hotel owners, especially five-star owners, can help Sabah’s tourism industry by maintaining their star ratings and contributing ideas to DBKK on developing new tourist products and facilities. There are tremendous potential benefits for hotel owners and management to work with Christina and Sabin. By collaborating, they can benefit themselves, the tourism industry, and Sabah in general. The hotel owners and management have the resources and international outreach to work with Christina and Sabin to upgrade KK’s tourism profile.