Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) also highlighted the importance of reliable infrastructure, following recent water supply disruptions affecting hotels in Kota Kinabalu.
Ganesh said interruptions to essential services could result in cancellations and inconvenience tourists, while negative online reviews could continue affecting hotels and the destination long after the disruption had ended.
“A negative review can remain online for years. Hotels may continue to suffer the consequences long after the actual problem has been resolved.
“Tourists may not know whether the disruption was caused by the hotel or an external utility provider, what they remember is their experience. This is why reliable basic infrastructure is not merely a utility issue; it is a tourism issue and a destination reputation issue,” he said.
He said water supply, electricity, telecommunications, transportation and other essential services must keep pace with Sabah’s tourism development to ensure the State could deliver the quality and reliability expected by visitors.
Ganesh also stressed that tourism growth should generate meaningful benefits for local communities through employment, business opportunities, local procurement, entrepreneurship and wider participation in the tourism supply chain.
