Malaysian Budget Hotels to Raise Rates 30%
Skift Take
Malaysian budget hotel owners are raising room rates due to increasing operational costs and taxes, amidst pressures from unlicensed accommodations.
In the first quarter of the year, the Philippines received nearly 1.6 million international visitors, marking a 21.3% increase compared with 1Q23. The big difference appears to have been the Chinese visitor arrivals, rising by 150% to 109,568. While the percentage increase is no big deal given how 1Q23 had China just converting from their Zero Covid policy to one where their residents were free to resume somewhat normalcy, the results were higher than the DOT projected. Also, China bested Japan which had 105,347 people travel to the Philippines in the quarter. If you combine the two countries, they still did not even come close to the Philippines' number one source market, South Korea, with 458,619 arrivals, up 26% year on year.
In Malaysia, budget hotel owners need to hike their rates to make up for inflation and other operational costs that are rising. The Vibes reported rates could go up as much as 30% to 40% over the next three months. A
