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JOHOR BAHRU: The Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MBHA) is working to get more budget hotel operators around the country to become its member.
Its president Datuk Dr Muhamad Nasir Hamzah said the move was aimed at enhancing the quality of budget hotel services as well as to remove the negative image of budget hotels sometimes portrayed as the centres for vice activities.
"There are 6,000 budget hotels in the country offering more than 200,000 rooms and with 120,000 employees. From this, so far only 1,600 hotels are members of the association," he told reporters after the launch of a course on housekeeping for budget hotels here on Wednesday, Mar 9.
Muhamad Nasir said that currently only Selangor and Negeri Sembilan were keen to make it compulsory for all budget hotels in the two states to register as members with the association.
He said the industry, with the majority of hotels run by locals, was growing fast and these hotels were now sought by western tourists as well as tourists from the Middle East who like to stay for short period of time.
Hotels that become members of the association will be provided assistance on various aspects including insurance, licensing, promotions and training.
"The membership fee for MBHA is only RM250 a year. For hotels that have 20 or less rooms, the fee will be only RM100," he said.
On the housekeeping course on Wednesday, Muhamad Nasir said it was in line with the Ministry of Tourism which took a serious view of the cleanliness of budget hotels in the country.
The course, attended by 200 budget hotel operators, exposed participants to effective cleaning techniques for their hotels with the use of environment friendly cleaning agents and in synch with the green element of their premises. — Bernama
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