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Tourism
Awaiting the return of travel
James Kon
With the travel ban in place and many
countries not eager to open their borders
anytime soon, the tourism sector may have
to wait a longer period to see any revival of
returning travellers.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in
its report titled ‘The Economic Impact of
the COVID-19 Outbreak on Developing Asia’
has estimated that the COVID-19 outbreak
could cause a decline in tourism revenue for
Brunei Darussalam by as much as -0.086 per
cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the
best case scenario (-USD11.7 million), -0.113
per cent in the moderate case (-USD15.3
million) and -0.192 per cent in the worst case
(-USD26.1 million).
President of Brunei Association of Hotels
and Mulia Hotel Operations Director Mohd
Iswandi bin Maaruf recently in a news report
said, “We have never seen anything quite like
this. The effects are devastating to industries
that support tourism, hotels and small and
medium-sized businesses.”
He said hotel room revenue dropped to
minus 41 per cent in January - April 2020,
while revenue on food and beverage has
dropped to minus 61 per cent in the same
period due to a complete lack of wedding
functions, meetings, incentives, conference
and events and so on.
Since February, hotel employees in
Brunei Darussalam have undergone a 35 per
cent salary cut, while some are on a 50 per
cent salary cut. To assist affected businesses,
the Brunei Government introduced several
stimulus packages such as a fiscal stimulus
on a 25 per cent subsidy for salary payment,
Employees Trust Fund (TAP) deferred
payment, and a 15 per cent discount on
electric and water bills.
No tourist arrivals from the key markets
especially China, Japan and Korea and
everywhere including any outbound travel
has also been totally disrupted, which
has had a significant financial impact for
many agents. Freme Travel Agency, one of
the many vastly affected travel agencies in
Brunei Darussalam in an interview stated that
they are trying to hatch new tour package
offerings to launch more attractive new
promotional packages like cruises to help
customers regain confidence in the travel
industry again in anticipation of a rebound or
when the upturn comes. Meanwhile, Minister
of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri
Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong delivered
an address in a recent Special Meeting of
the ASEAN Tourism Ministers (M-ATM) on
COVID-19 via video conference on April 29,
2020.
During a recent working visit to Tutong
District, as part of the post COVID-19 plan,
Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali said he hoped
to increase the quality of hospitality services
for restaurants and hotels as well as places
frequently visited places through instilling
the values of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB),
thus giving an unforgettable experience for
tourists.
“Since March this year, Brunei Darussalam
has imposed a travel ban in order to curb the
spread of COVID-19 in the country. We have
assessed a number of tourism destinations
nationwide to make sure that the facilities in
those destinations are safe and clean as well
as convenient for the public to utilise when
tourists are returning back to the country.
Alhamdulillah
, a number of issues were
identified for improvement In term of safety
including jetties at rivers and cleanliness
in a number of locations. Insya Allah, those
who managed the facilities will be informed
and be given time to improve before tourists
arrive in the future.”
Theminister revealed that, after COVID-19,
“we have plans to increase the quality of
services like restaurants and hotels as well
as museums and places frequently visited
by tourists to instil the values of MIB like how
we greet guests at home by saying
selamat
datang
(welcome) and treating the guests
well by offering drinks and food, respecting
the guest and before leaving, we must say
terima kasih
(thank you). To make sure the
guest is safe; the host will accompany the
guest to the front door.”
Borneo Bulletin, Wednesday July 15, 2020
Royal Birthday SPECIAL