Looking for a getaway: Local tourist Nurul Huda (right) with her friend Shakilah Karim looking at a brochure at the Malaysia Tourism Centre, Kuala Lumpur. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
M’sians find domestic holidaying worthwhile but hope for affordable travel costs
PETALING JAYA: While there are Malaysians who prefer holidaying locally believing the country remains the best value for money, they fear that they will soon be outpriced by the rising local travel costs.
The budget-conscious hope for more reasonably priced outings and holidays.
In view of the coming school holidays from Feb 9 to March 9 that coincides with the Chinese New Year celebration, Malaysians will be looking forward to a break with the family.
Chinese New Year falls on Feb 10 and 11 this year.
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Finance executive Jerry Cho, 29, took six trips altogether within the country last year.
To manage that, he set aside RM200 per month for his travel funds, carrying over any unfinished sum from the previous year into the next.
“I feel like Malaysia has a lot of things to offer and for me, it’s still worthwhile to travel domestically because I want to explore my country. It’s more expensive to go abroad and the process is more tedious as you need a passport and a visa,” he said, adding that he has yet to plan for his Lunar New Year break as he knows that the costs will be steep.
Cho, who went to Sabah three times last year and plans to visit Sarawak this year, hopes that more can be done to make flights to Sabah and Sarawak affordable in order to boost local tourism, adding that he usually sets aside at least RM1,000 for his domestic airfare budget.
He said that while the government’s initiative to cap flights to Sabah and Sarawak at RM599 for Christmas last year was good, the price can and should be brought down more.
“You can’t ask people to book in advance then flights get cancelled at the last minute. It’s not fair,” he said.
Cho added that last mile connectivity issues, especially from public transport to popular tourist destinations, should be solved to enable more access to such spots for tourists.
Content specialist G. Joshua, 35 also prefers going on local trips with his wife and their three-year-old son, especially for long weekends or short school holidays in spite of trips possibly costing about RM1,000 or more, if flights are needed.
However, he admitted that overseas destinations such as Phuket or Krabi in Thailand have now come up to the same cost as popular resort islands such as Langkawi.
“When I used AirAsia’s SNAP, which combines flights and hotels, it turned out that it was relatively the same all-in price to vacation in Phuket or Krabi as it was in Langkawi,” he said.
Joshua observed that mid-range hotels within the country have kept their prices steady between the RM200 and RM500 range but costs for high-end hotels have gotten exorbitant, going from the RM500 to RM600 mark to between RM600 and RM800 now.
“I can no longer afford those hotels and go slightly below that range to get similar quality,” he said.
Business owner Asilah Jalaluddin, 47, said her family of six has never travelled overseas as they could not afford the airfare and would opt to holiday domestically once or twice a year.
However, she admitted that they could not always afford to do so these days with the rising cost of living and prices of travel accommodation and food, especially during the school holidays.
“I have a big family with four teenage children and it costs us between RM100 to RM200 for every meal we eat outside.
“We also have to book a homestay, or if not that, two hotel rooms, or at least a family suite when we travel because the children are older now.
“I recently surveyed the prices for several resort islands to plan for the school holidays but everything will cost us a few thousand ringgit so we will just stay home instead,” said Asilah.
