Another day of this long year has passed, and we’re still not able to travel anywhere with ease thanks to the pandemic – not even to visit our neighbours next door in Malaysia, where they really miss us just as much as we miss the food and prices there.

Since March, the borders between Singapore and Malaysia have remained shut, causing the tourism industry and some small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia’s south region to take a serious hit due to little business.

Hotels in downtown Johor Bahru are only seeing a 25% occupancy rate in small to medium sized ones, with 13 hotels having no choice but to close down for good, unable to survive the drought.

As such, businesses are desperately holding on to the hope of the day that the border finally opens and things start to look up, but until then, they still have to persevere on.

Plans To Attract More Customers

Jarod Chia, the chairman of the state’s Malaysian Budget Hotels Association, laid down the association’s plans to attract more customers amidst this struggle and keep these businesses afloat.

Despite the country’s recovery movement control order which allows Malaysians to travel within the country, only hotels on islands and beaches have seen an improvement in business, while hotels in the city centre have continued to suffer.

Members of the association have also been asked to reduce their prices in an attempt to see an increase in customers, but this tactic did not work out as planned.

Lowering the prices would only mess up the market, and they are currently at a loss while having to survive this period of time, he said, adding that “the industry is currently focusing on attracting tourists to live in the city centre by creating tourism facilities, hoping to achieve better performance in the fourth quarter.”

Plans for the next run involve arranging for about 30 operators to visit nearby tourist attractions in the near future so the association can market their hotels, currently aiming at securing one-day tour packages to attract tourists.

Of the three targeted locations, namely Pulau Kukup, Desaru beach and Johor Bahru city, the association is hoping for more tourists to visit local attractions such as Mangrove National Park, Fishermen Museum, South Asia World Port Crocodile, Glass Hindu Temple, Johor Temple, Johor Palace and others.

This will hopefully boost the performance of small and medium-sized hotels, Chia said.

Perhaps they’re also considering looking into their own version of the SingapoRediscovers vouchers?

Hoping For Border Opening And Other Projects

In the meantime, Putrajaya must begin talks with Singapore to reopen the border and allow the movement of Singaporeans into Johor as soon as possible, said SME Association of South Johor adviser Teh Kee Sin.

He also advocated for more widescale promotions to be held by the Malaysian government in order to assist retailers in boosting more sales, saying that he knows people would be willing to spend on special offers despite not having much in their pockets.

With the ending of the loan moratorium, a period where one’s payments of loans to the bank are delayed, SMEs are also facing cash flow difficulties.

“Bank Negara Malaysia should put pressure on the banks to extend the moratorium, because everyone has to survive this period without a vaccine,” he said, adding that the economy will remain bad due to people still not daring to spend.

Furthermore, the association had also received complaints from businesses about being unable to extend the loan moratorium.

Businesses will be able to survive through maintaining their cash flow if the moratorium is allowed by the banks, Teh said, citing figures of possibly saving RM20,000 per month, which would equate to RM60,000 (S$19,700) in savings in three months.

“If there is room for survival, once the situation returns to normal, the company might be able to secure its business. However, if businesses are killed in these few months, it will be over,” he added.

Wants To Speed Up Infrastructural Projects 

Teh also expressed his wishes for the Malaysian government to speed up the implementation of infrastructural projects, including the Malaysia-Singapore Rapid Transport System which involves a 4km long train route between Woodlands and Johor Bahru.

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project has also yet to develop further.

Nearly 200 industries and fields in the surrounding areas will be assisted once the government puts these projects into place, he said as well.

Let’s hope 2021 brings us all good news of the border reopening again.

Featured Image: Muhammad Syahid / Shutterstock.com