22nd March, 2013
2,000 hotel bookings cancelled.
Sandakan: About 2,000 rooms that were booked online with the
various hotels here were cancelled following the Suluk terrorist intrusion in
Lahad Datu and Semporna recently. It is feared that the situation would lead to
the closure of many businesses.
A newly-opened international-class hotel suffered a great
loss when 600 guest rooms booked by foreign tourists over the next few months
were cancelled.
Tourism industry player, Datuk John Lim Shau Ket, also
revealed that renowned local hotels here incurred huge losses when about 90
arrangements were cancelled within one day on March 6. "The misleading
information disseminated (by foreign countries) contributed to this
phenomenon," he said.
Foreign tourists, he said, were given travel advisory by
their respective governments that the East Coast of Sabah had turned into a
battlefield. "But the hotspot is actually about 200km from here," he
said.
He urged the Federal Tourism Ministry to negotiate with
countries that imposed travel advisories through Malaysia's diplomats to lift
the ban. "They must explain to the foreign tourists the actual situation
here. Especially the hotspot in Felda Sahabat, which is well under control by
our security forces," he said.
He said even the inbound tours here were badly affected with
similar cancellations the past few weeks. The former Sabah Tourism Board
Director said a committee co-named as Sandakan Tourism Association (STA), of
which he is protem chairman, has been set up to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, former Sandakan Municipal Council deputy
president, Thomas Lau Chi Keong, said the participation of government
departments is vital to stop the rumours that were created by irresponsible
elements, including by the media in the Philippines. Lau said that by ceasing
business operations, it would only create panic among the public. "We must
have confidence in our security forces," he said, adding that his cafŽ
business dropped by 50 per cent. Lau advised the people to verify the
information they received by checking with the police.
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