GEORGE TOWN – Some 300 delegates decided to vote in familiar faces to the board of the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) at the now concluded annual general meeting in what observers saw as one of the keenest contests in recent memory.
Senior tourism practitioner Datuk Megat Shahrul Azman Abas and Christina Toh, the area general manager of Dorset Grand Subang, emerged as the new honorary secretary-general and president respectively.
They were rewarded for remaining active in MAH for the past decades.
The board will be entrusted to shoulder the responsibility to help hospitality properties and tourism as a whole recover from the onslaught of Covid-19 for the next three years.
MAH represents over 1,000 hotels in the country. Some have been temporarily closed for renovations, while some are operating at below capacity due to manpower shortages.
Long-serving officer bearers withstood a stiff challenge from other candidates after 11 senior hoteliers sought six available positions on the board.
The line-up includes: Toh (president); Shirley Lai Swee Fong, Lim Choong Sean, and Khoo Boo Lim (all vice-presidents); Megat Shahrul (hon secretary-general); and Maggie Ong Mooi Kee (hon treasurer-general).
They are joined in the management committee by Datin Jasmine Heng (Selangor chapter chairman), Haziz Hassan (Negri Sembilan chairman) and Ivan Teo (Johor chairman).
Meanwhile, the outgoing chief executive officer of MAH has called for new ideas and innovation to help tourism rebound faster after the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Yap Lip Seng, who did not renew his contract with MAH, said that moving forward, the umbrella organisation for hoteliers, needs to revamp its leadership and strategies to propel tourism forward despite some of the greatest challenges it has ever faced.
The industry is not just stricken with Covid-19, but with an acute shortage of staffing, rising operational costs and a lacklustre pace in wooing foreign tourists.
Megat Shahrul, who is a former Langkawi Development Authority tourism manager, said that to boost recovery, the private sector needs to understand the importance of working with the public sector.
Tourism is the third biggest contributor to the country’s economy after manufacturing, and commodities, said Megat Shahrul.
And its gross value was estimated to be at RM199.4 billion in 2020 with a major potential for further expansion with the economy reopening, he added. – The Vibes, May 28, 2022
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