JOHOR BARU: Hotels here will shrug off the Covid-19 induced tourism drought of the past two years with Singaporeans thronging the city during the nine-day Hari Raya Aidilfitri and school holiday break beginning Friday.
As the border reopening between Johor and Singapore on 1 April saw a sharp increase in hotel bookings due to increased Singaporeans visiting the Johor state capital for shopping and gourmet feasting.
The past two weekends witnessed a boost in occupancy rates of 4-star and 5-star hotels in southern capital by visitors from Singapore.
News of the strengthening of the Singapore dollar against the Ringgit has only accentuated the boom.
The stage is being set for the deluge of Singaporean visitors over the coming long weekend of Labour Day (1 May) and the Hari Raya Aidilfitri (3rd & 4th May) holidays with hotels in Johor Baru and Desaru racing to meet the outsized demand.
The Ramadan buffets of the nearly four weeks have enjoyed good patronage while shopping malls, reduced to ghostly haunts over the past two years because of anemic demand, have seen the sap of shopping activity flowing again in their veins.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo hailed the revival of business for the hotel and restaurant sectors as "manna from heaven."
"We are entitled to celebrate because we suffered the last two years from the effects of the pandemic.
"We are looking forward to better business from domestic and Singaporean visitors who will converge at our hotels and malls for feasting and shopping.
"The revival in business will boost employment and restore economic activity in Johor to pre-pandemic levels," Teo explained.
GoodHope Hotel group general manager Callie Tan endorsed Teo's optimism by noting that her hotel has received bookings from visitors from Kuala Lumpur and northern Malaysia.
"After two years of pandemic, Malaysians are looking forward to a brief break and gathering with family members," she said.
"We see the long holiday spell as ideal for the convergence of Singaporean and Malaysian visitors on southern and eastern Johor for relaxation, shopping and feasting," she remarked.
She stressed that with business picking up it will create more new job opportunities for the jobless and former retrenched staff.
General manager of New York Hotel Tan Ai Lee expects that Singaporeans with relatives in Malaysia will use this long weekend and holiday spell for staycation plus shopping.
"Also, many Malaysians will travel to Johor Baru as balik kampung to celebrate Aidilfitri with family members and relatives who have long not met up because of Covid-19 restrictions will relish the opportunity to interact once again," she said.
"'We have had many advance bookings and expect scores of last-minute ones," she added.
She is now a little worried as the hotel is short of staff to meet the demand in the coming days.
Lotus Desaru Beach Resort & SPA chief executive officer Indra Gandhi Rengasamy Pillai was gleeful over the surge in room bookings for the coming festive season.
"Our room occupancy is currently at 60 per cent and we are still taking bookings. We have been receiving lots of calls for bookings," she chortled.
"Being a resort for all reasons, our Splash Park is the unique attraction within the resort. The Splash Park is in full demand by families.
"Because of the heavy demand from guests, we have launched our new Korean and Indian kitchens. Our timing is right," she said.