PETALING JAYA: While the depreciation of the ringgit against the US dollar has caused concerns for the Malaysian economy, it has also had a positive impact on the tourism industry.
As expected, the weaker ringgit has brought more tourists to Malaysia. On the other hand, more Malaysians are also travelling abroad for holidays.
Airlines are seeing more seats filled, while tour operators and money changers too are seeing a tick-up in business.
Without a doubt, the easing of travel restrictions in April has had a positive impact on both inbound and outbound tourism.
However, industry players believe the fairly stable exchange rates the ringgit has been able to maintain against major currencies apart from the greenback has also encouraged outbound tourism.
For instance, airlines are seeing more seats filled, more Malaysians are buying the British pound, Australian dollar and the euro, and tour operators are seeing an increase in the demand for organised trips abroad.
Malaysia Association of Money Services Business CEO Chitra Devi Sundram said there already was optimism that the demand for foreign exchange would improve given that more people would be travelling to Europe or Australia for holidays or education.
“After a long lockdown, people are eager to travel,” she told FMT Business.
The airlines, too, are seeing a take-off in the demand for seats. Malaysia Airlines assistant manager Norshafiza Zulkifli said flights to London and Australia were already recording “a healthy load factor” for advance bookings.
“The demand has kept pace, if not strengthened, with the gradual reopening of borders around the world,” she told FMT Business.
Low-cost carrier AirAsia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the surge in demand in the travel industry.
AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd group CEO Bo Lingam said the continuous surge in bookings was “due to the significant pent-up demand post Covid-19”.
Just over a 48-hour period less than two weeks ago, the airline sold half a million tickets under one of its regular promotional efforts.
Lingam attributed the brisk sales to the pent up demand for travel. “The surge in bookings were seen across all key sectors,” he told FMT Business. Of course the promise of fares as low as RM13, inclusive of taxes and charges, was a major selling point.
There was a strong demand for long haul flights to Australia, Japan, India, South Korea and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Lingam also expects the weaker ringgit to attract more travellers to Malaysia from its Asean neighbours and beyond.
It has come to a point where AirAsia is working hard to enlarge its fleet of aircraft to meet the demand, he said.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents president Tan Kok Liang said there had been an increase in the number of tour groups to places such as Turkey, the Middle East and the UK.
He told FMT Business some of those who were going abroad for holidays would have booked their trips in advance.
“Slight changes in the currency exchange rates would have no significant impact on their travel plans. In any case, they would have bigger disposable incomes,” Tan added.
At the end of August, the ministry of tourism, arts and culture announced that it was revising its tourism arrivals target for the year from 4.5 million to 9.2 million given that by July, the country had already received 3.2 million visitors.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2022/10/03/tourism-sector-taking-off-despite-weaker-ringgit/