To countervail the plunge in occupancy due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak, hotels here have been urged to offer discounted rates and interesting packages to local tourists.

Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism secretary-general Sharil Saat said today that some hotels o­nly have occupancy rates of five to six rooms.

He added that during March and April, the sector faced a greater drop in occupancy rate.

"We are having difficulty pulling in the locals, even with the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia programme, since they too are scared to be out in the open due to the Sars outbreak," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Sharil said although discounts would not reap great profits, it will at least help the hotels cover their operational costs.

"We don't want to see empty hotels as the management still has to pay the employees and there are about 100,000 people currently working in the hotel sector," he said.

Don't panic

He also expressed hope that Malaysians would not panic as the country was not Sars-infected.

"Nor are we the root of it. We take precautionary measures, but life has to go o­n and we must not limit our movements and activities just because of Sars," he said.

Sahril said the ministry agreed with Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's statement that the government and private sector should help boost the hotel industry.

The deputy premier had said that he would direct all government agencies to hold seminars, courses and other programmes they have planned for the rest of the year in hotels to help the industry.

He added this not o­nly applied to hotels in major cities but also those in smaller towns.

Sharil said in a bid to promote the tourism industry, Minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir ( photo ) will be leaving o­n a mission to countries in the Middle East, India and Pakistan to convince tour operators that Malaysia is a safe place to visit.