COMING back home from Hong Kong, traveller Donald Lim said it was a sad sight at the KL International Airport compared to the Chek Lap Kok airport.

At KLIA, he said, practically all the aircraft were Malaysia Airlines (MAS) planes.

He said at the KLIA's luggage area only three carousels were unloading bags - this, at the supposedly peak arrival time of around 7.30pm!

He said he does not know why Malaysian Airport Holdings Bhd continues to harp about the KLIA being the 'Best Airport' in the category of 15 million to 25 million passengers.

This only puts the KLIA in the in the likes of 'hardly top tier' cities, like Shenzen, Salt Lake City and New Delhi, he said in an email to the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) early this month.

He said Hong Kong. Singapore, Tokyo, New York and Shanghai are handling 20 million to 40 million passengers!

"Pretty sad situation," he summed up, "yet more hotels are being built to respond to the supposed boom in tourist arrivals.

Get the 'Mona Lisa'

MAHO executive director Shaharuddin M admits there is a problem regarding the tourist arrivals.

He reckons, however, that the hotels are not the issue as the matter concerns more the type of tourists that come to the country.

He said Malaysia should go for quality tourists - who will spend more during their stay and who are likely to stay longer if the situation meets their requirements.

"Ours is a wonderful country; we have cities, hills, beaches and islands. The people in the tourism industry should capitalise on these features.

"We also have to restructure the tourism promotion, so that it will also draw business people who  travel to attend meetings and conventions," he said in an interview with Malaysian Mirror.

Another way to lure the high-end tourists is to get some valuable art masterpieces to be displayed here.

"If we can get the 'Mona Lisa'  to be displayed here, art enthusiasts from around the region will come to Malaysia just to look at it," said Shahruddin.

He also proposed that Malaysia be used as the launching pad for international products.

"We know that the rich and famous always want to be a notch higher than their peers - they want to be the first to buy or own certain products.

"If we can identify those products and strategically position them to suit the place and environment  of the quality tourist, we can create Malaysia as an 'icon' for these products," he added.

Shahrukh Khan and Joan Collins

He said Malaysia used to boast about Genting Highlands, which attracted a global crowd to its casino and amusement park.

"But now, we have to face direct competition with Singapore. They have an integrated tourism centre which boasts of casinos, entertainment outlets, convention centre and the Universal Studios theme park," he added.

Shaharuddin said against all hopes of the tourism authorities, the quality vistors do not return for another holiday in Malaysia after they have visited here once.

"Take, for instance, stars like Sharukh Khan and actress Joan Collins as well as the Survivor cast.  

"Although they said they want to come to Malaysia again, they didn't," he said, adding, "There must be something wrong, somewhere."

Shahrukh had come to Malaysia to film the movie One Two Ka Four in 2001 and was honoured with the title 'Datuk' by the Malacca government for promoting the state through the film. He returned to only receive the title and to make some token public appearances.

Collins, who is best-known for her portrayal of Alexis, the vengeful ex-wife of Blake Carrington (played by John Forsythe) in the hit prime time soap opera of the 1980s Dynasty  had honeymooned with fifth husband Percy Gibson in KL and Pangkor Laut in the early 1990s.

The crew of the Survivor reality TV game show had also come to Malaysia in the early 1990s and had stayed during the duration of show in an isolated and wild island off Sabah.

Shaharuddin, who has been in the business for 35 years, said the Tourism Ministry has to do a lot more work to invite Bolywood and Hollywood stars to revisit Malaysia.

Prior to joining MAHO,  he had had stints with a reward card company, a travelling agency and Japan Airlines, where he had kicked off his career in tourism in 1976.

No more a 'cheap destination'

“Nothing is guaranteed in this industry. Rates were low during  the  9/11 incident, the SARS and H1N1 epidemics and whenever there is an economic downturn.

"In the ecomomic recession of the late 80’s,  hotel rates could not even touch RM300 for the five-star hotels.

"Those were hard times. How could you expect the lesser ranking hotel to survive in this situation?”

Then to make matters worse, Malaysia was, at one time, promoted as a ‘cheap destination’.

"It did work for a while, we got the numbers but we did not get quality tourists.

"Those who came were not big spenders. They stayed for  three or four days and did not shop around extensively.

"Furthermore, they damaged the hotel properties. The hotel management had to bear the cost of refurbishing.

"Higher revenue is important rather than higher occupancy."

Shaharuddin, however, sees the signs of recovery and is hopeful that the hotel industry - and, by extension, the tourism industry - will bounce back

“We are happy to note that even the room rate at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur is around RM400 to RM600 per room, which is an encouraging sign that the hotel industry is bouncing back.

"We must know the psychology of the guest. Usually, the quality guest identifies themselves to brand names.

"For instance, a guest may want to relate himself to the Four Seasons, the world's leading operator of  luxury hotels which runs a resort in Langkawi. The room rate there is RM1,000 per night.

"We do nothave different charges for guests, whether they are Malaysians or foreigners," denouncing suggestions that Malaysians may not be able to affors such rates.

"To say Malaysians cannot afford a five-stay is insulting to the likes of Ananda Krishnan or  Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary (two of the country's richest men)."

The problem with parents

In the hospitality business, said Shaharuddin, service is everything.

"Service is the core of our business and human capital development is the most important aspect."

However, he laments, young Malaysian job-seekers are not keen to be in the  business because some jobs are not glamorous - like being a toilet cleaner.

"Although they might earn RM1,000 to RM2,000 as a toilet cleaner, they would not do it.

"I think that the root of the problem lies in our education system as well as in the parents," he said, addingh that modern parents pamper their children with material comforts such as cellphones, cars and easy money.

"The attitude is: why work when the parents can support their needs?

"We are definitely going to have a problem in the industry in the future.

"It is labour intensive. If we send the foreign labour back,  we cannot get the local to work in their place. Then we have to resort back to rtaking foreigners.

"It is a dilemma for the industry."— Malaysian Mirror