KOTA KINABALU, June 21 — Hotels in Sabah are still suffering occupancy loss between 3 to 7 per cent due to the increase of popularity with home sharing operators like Airbnb.

Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Sabah-Labuan chapter chairman Gordon Seet lamented that overall room occupancy rate for three to five -star Sabah hotels and resorts has decreased despite the increase of both domestic and international tourists to the state.

“Occupancy rate for the first quarter of this year has dropped from 84.9 per cent to 77.9 per cent for five star hotels, 77.7 per cent to 74.4 per cent for four star and 62.3 per cent to 60 per cent for three-star hotels and resorts, compared to the same period last year.

Seet, who is the Kota Kinabalu Marriott Hotel’s general manager, said that the non-registration of Airbnb and other home-sharing operators is a huge loss to the state's tourism industry in terms of revenue generation because they do not pay tourism tax.

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"We are not against the operations of Airbnb and home-sharing operators. Rather, registration and legislation of these operators is to be a win-win situation for the government, local councils and all accommodation providers.

"All we desire is a fair and competitive playing-field in providing good services to international and local tourists alike," he said during a meeting with Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.

Liew, in response, said she will help to facilitate the registration of such operators for the good of all stakeholders.

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"I will take up the matter with the relevant authorities," she said.

Sabah received some 1,033,871 tourists in the first three months of this year, a jump of about nine per cent compared to the year before.

They are estimated to have spent some RM2.23 billion in revenue here, and are among the biggest revenue earners for the state, after palm and crude oil export.

Last year, the state received a record number of tourists at 3.897 million and earned some RM8.342 billion.