GEORGE TOWN – The Equatorial Hotel Penang in Bukit Jambul is calling it quits by March 31, as the tourism industry has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sighted by the Vibes, a memorandum dated today stated the owner’s decision to close the 650-room property due to financial damage.
The hotel’s 300 employees will be offered a severance package.
In the memo, the hotel’s general manager, Alan Ong, said the best recourse is to close the hotel, although it is a sad and difficult decision.
“The last day for the public has yet to be decided, but it will be before March 31.”
A hotel employee also confirmed the news to The Vibes.
Ong and Equatorial Hotel Group chairman Datuk Lim Kong Wai, who is also the owner of the hotel chain, could not be reached for comment.
Penang Development Corporation is said to have a minority stake in the company.
The hotel was set up in 1990 to host a growing number of expatriates and tourists visiting the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone and Bayan Baru satellite town.
Engineers and technocrats, who helped develop the industrial zone, were frequent guests of the establishment.
The hotel had also hosted former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, during the latter’s tenure as deputy prime minister.
But the rise of short-term rental, unregulated homestays and stiff competition over the years did not do the hotel any favours.
Malaysian Association of Hotels vice-president Khoo Boo Lim said it is a sad decision, as Equatorial is one of the oldest hotels in the state.
“It is a tourism icon of Penang. Through the years, it has produced many hospitality talents and provided for many families.
“The hotel is yet another casualty of the pandemic, and no thanks to the federal government, which does not see the bigger picture in helping the economy, especially the tourism sector.”
Khoo said he is upset that most of the emergency aid went to only a handful of industries, with unnecessary budgets allocated to projects that do not generate adequate economic spillover. – The Vibes, January 25, 2021
