AUG 14 — I am a veteran of Malaysia’s travel industry who spent much of the 1990s working as cabin staff with MAS. As much as I am pained by the airline’s current tribulations, my recent experiences show a much more worrying trend: The slow but visible decline in our tourism and hospitality standards.
Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to travel around ASEAN and beyond. Without exception, I was impressed by the greatly improved quality of service and customer interaction in our neighbouring countries. Their service sectors have clearly “done their homework” in the last ten years when it comes to making visitors feel welcome, safe and well looked after.
Worried about finding halal food in Bangkok? Don’t be – each of the city’s food courts operates at least one halal stall these days; some may provide as many as three (Thai, Indian, Lebanese). Uneasy at the idea of looking for a taxi in Jakarta? Lo and behold – some of the city’s new taxi companies accept bookings made over the phone or even from smart gadgets. Not only that – their drivers sport clean, smart uniforms and are courteous in all situations. The second you enter their car, they will make extra legroom for you, turn up the air-conditioning and switch the radio to a more hip and international music station.
Expecting mediocre restaurant service in Singapore? Even in the mid-range eateries, it has become a common practice for the waiters to come by your table during the meal and pleasantly, unobtrusively ask: “Is everything alright? Are you enjoying your food?” The list goes on and on. In fact, the warmth and patience of tourism workers in emerging destinations like Cambodia is almost angelic – it has to be seen to be believed. The words “no” and “cannot” truly don’t exist in their vocabulary.
Where does this leave our own brand of cuti Malaysia? How do we stack up to this vigorous competition that has cropped up all around us? If the past weekend is any indication, we should be gravely concerned. Having agreed to join a foreign business associate on a short trip to Melaka, I checked into a high-rise, recently rebranded five-star hotel on the city’s Jalan Bendahara. The reception, knowing full well their hotel was undergoing massive renovation, with 294 rooms to choose from gave me a room right upstairs from the incessant drilling and pounding. To make things worse, they neglected to mention the renovation to me or inform me of during what hours I had better stay in town and away from the noise.
In several conversations I had with the staff about this over the weekend, there was not a hint of a coherent apology, let alone of trying to find some sort of solution or compensation (be it a symbolic one such as a RM20 coffee house voucher). Most of the time, the staff would remain silent, avoid eye contact, or give out a vague “mm-hmm...”. Apparently, the five-star hotel that is spending millions on room refurbishment as I write this never thought of organizing proper staff training. As a result, the reception issues room keys, receives petty cash – and that’s that. The concept of listening to guests, acknowledging their grievances and coming up with solutions does not register.
Sadly, this is becoming the standard across the country. Most KL restaurants nowadays will fight you tooth and nail over trivial things like choosing one’s own dinner table or asking for a glass of ice water. No matter how many times you may have eaten there before, they will cite a dozen varieties of “not allowed” and “company policy”. On the priorities ladder, customer satisfaction is steadily sinking to the bottom, behind profits, staff convenience and ‘rules and regulations’.
Back to Melaka old town: We stopped by several popular attractions (8 Heeren Street, Portuguese Square) only to find their doors closed. When asked “Are you open?”, the staff on duty would reply “Yes, we’re open, but everyone’s gone out to lunch. Come back after 2PM.” In Portuguese Square we witnessed a large busload of Japanese tourists get off the bus and promptly get back on the bus, no doubt costing the square operator hundreds if not thousands of ringgit in lost revenue.
rice points and value for money are a whole other chapter. A basic room at KLIA’s main hotel nowadays sets one back RM600++ — three times the amount I used to pay 10-15 years ago. Similarly, I had looked forward to browsing through Melaka’s antique shops (even though most of their merchandise would in other countries only qualify as bric-a-brac). But price tags of RM1,500 and up for the most unassuming of items brought my antiquing to a quick halt. RM4,800 for a non-descript brass teapot, anyone?
What to make of all this? I’m afraid that unless our hospitality industry starts aggressively getting its act together through meaningful workforce training, the combination of rising costs and falling service standards may do more damage to this country’s tourism than any airline catastrophe every could. If you don’t believe it, hop on a plane to Thailand or Cambodia and see for yourself.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
