Langkawi tourism body laments increasing booking cancellations

The Langkawi Tourism Association (LTA) lamented the increasing trend of booking cancellations on the popular tourist island, even during peak holiday periods.

LTA's chief executive Zainudin Kadir said the association has recorded 29 percent cancellations up to Oct 3 for bookings made for the upcoming long weekend, in conjunction with the Maulidur Rasul public holiday on Monday.

"The cancellations involve hotels, chalets and homestays registered under LTA. Most of the cancellations cited difficulties in getting ferry tickets to the island as a reason.

"This is the biggest problem affecting the Langkawi tourism industry right now. An issue that needs to be immediately handled by relevant agencies and the government," Zainudin said.

"The people are tired of Langkawi, they choose to go to Cameron Highlands or Hatyai (Thailand) instead, and that's the reality," he told Utusan Malaysia when contacted recently.

According to him, the LTA receives an average of 20 complaints daily from its members about the tourism industry on the island.

"For the Maulidur Rasul holidays, most of the bookings were made around the Pantai Cenang area, while there is scarce reception for Kuah town and other areas.

“The main issue now is cutting down the frequency of ferry trips from 12 to 5, which is bound to affect tourism.

"Come and see for yourselves, at the Kuah ferry terminal. There used to be 25 operational counters but now only eight are remaining.

“Many businesses, including tour agencies and car rental services, have shuttered down due to dwindling number of tourists," he said.

To overcome the problem, Zainudin proposed increasing the ferry trip frequency, as well as giving more licenses for outside companies to provide the service.

"Statistics from local tourism agencies have shown that 65 percent of tourists to Langkawi rely on the ferry to get to the island, and when services are affected, so will the tourism numbers.

"The 29 percent cancellation may seem low in number, but it involves 300 places of accommodation and hundreds of thousands of ringgit worth of booking which has to be borne by not only hotel owners but also locals involved in the tourism industry,” he noted.

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