By David Tan,

The Star, July 15, 2010

Battistotti said that owing to AirAsia’s direct flights to Chennai, India, the local hotel industry registered 1,500 more room nights in April, May and June.

In the first quarter of 2010, the occupancy rate of Penang hotels was around 56%, compared with 53% in the first quarter 2009, he said.

Meanwhile, Cititel Penang sales and marketing director Vincent Ng said the hotel was undertaking extensive refurbishment of its 451 rooms and would start renovating the coffee house in August.

“We want to enhance our product to generate a strong market penetration from India, Hong Kong and Australia, which are the main markets we are tapping.

“The outlook for the third quarter remains unpredictable, although June and July look favourable. Business for the rest of the year will definitely be better compared with 2009.

“However, there is a shift in our arrivals, in that foreign arrivals have increased by 11.6%, while domestic arrivals decreased by 11.5% in the first five months of 2010.

“This is a positive indicator as it also shows that Cititel has established its brand name in the overseas market.

“One of the reasons for such a shift is the direct flights from Penang to Singapore, Chennai, Hong Kong and Macau by AirAsia,” he said.

For the first five months of 2010, Cititel Penang registered a 61.6% occupancy rate against 53.6% in the previous year’s corresponding period, Ng said.

Parkroyal Hotel Penang sales and marketing director Ernest Loi said the occupancy rate in the third quarter would decrease slightly due to Ramadan, which would start on Aug 11, and he expected an occupancy rate of about 75%.

“However, we will be adjusting our average room rates upward, currently at about RM410, in the third quarter.

“The Middle-Eastern tourists are expected to return after Ramadan in late September and early October. So we expect our occupancy rate to pick up again in the fourth quarter,” he said.

The second quarter of 2010 was expected to register an occupancy rate of about 67%, compared with 78% in the preceding quarter, Loi said.

Eastern & Oriental Hotel general manager Michael Saxon said that for the third quarter, the hotel expected more travellers from the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

“We aim to attract more visitors from India, China, and Eastern Europe, as there are now regular direct flights from Chennai to Penang and increasing frequency of other budget flights to Penang,” he said.

“Most of our guests are foreigners with more than half being holidaymakers while the rest comprise corporate travellers and the meeting, incentives, convention and exhibition (MICE) market segment.

“Our hotel maintains a high occupancy level, achieving 70% in the first quarter of 2010. Even during the industry’s low season in the second quarter, we sustained a healthy occupancy of 62% in during the quarter.

“Due to the prevailing uncertainties in the global economy, domestic spending power is still weak especially in the UK, Europe and America but as economic strength gathers momentum in countries like Australia, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, we foresee greater improvement in the tourism industry this year,” he said.

Hard Rock Hotel Penang sales and marketing director Betty Lim said the second quarter was expected to register a stronger occupancy rate than the first quarter of 2010, which registered about 60% in occupancy rate.

“We expect the Middle-Eastern market, tourists from the Asean region, and Australia to drive business growth in the third quarter.

“About 70% of our guests are from the leisure market, while the remainder come from the MICE market,” Lim said.