FUTURE RECOVERY
Industry players interviewed by CNA said they did not expect the manpower crunch to be resolved by the end of 2022.
“This competition for manpower is a global issue, we (the Malaysian Association of Hotels) have met with our travel and tourism counterparts from other Southeast Asian countries, and they are facing the same problem,” Mdm Toh said.
The best hope, she added, was for the situation to be stabilised by the second quarter of 2023, depending on whether the number of international flights and the number of foreign arrivals to Malaysia would increase.
She said that only this could help in a faster recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector.
Mdm Toh also said that MAH, together with the Malaysian Budget Hotels Association (MBHA) and the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO), had recently reached out to the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) and the Human Resources Ministry over the labour shortage issue.
MAH had also met up informally with Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri to voice concerns about their industry, including its manpower situation.
“I understand that MOTAC is working with other ministries to search for solutions, including allowing more foreign workers to be recruited to relieve some of the manpower crunch in the sector,” Mdm Toh told CNA.
“I can say that the hotels are waiting on the Human Resources Ministry regarding visa approvals for foreign contract workers,” she added.
