The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) have denied a news report by Astro Awani, which stated that hotels in the island of Langkawi had received 1,000 room bookings. The report added that the bookings were made within an hour after the announcement of the resumption of domestic tourism by prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, as part of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) which will commence on 10 June 2020.
Astro Awani had sourced the aforementioned news from the Langkawi Tourism Association (LTA) and its CEO Zainudin Kadir. However, MAH expressed their doubts regarding the legitimacy of this source and noted that the LTA is not a recognised entity.
“A quick search on the internet revealed a defunct web page offering investment and stock exchange, banking and business consulting services, among others,” said the hotel group in a statement provided to FMT. “Its Facebook page is also inactive.”
The group added that Kedah and Perlis MAH chairman Eugene Dass, as well as member hotels in Langkawi had confirmed that no such numbers of bookings were made. “Instead, the said news caused much anxiety and concern among hoteliers and their employees as to how such flawed information could spread through reputable news agencies,” they said.
(Source: FMT / Astro Awani | Header image: Reuters)
