LANGKAWI: Five-star hotels on the island are reporting high occupancy with attractive promotional rates being offered as the island is reopened for fully vaccinated domestic travellers.

       Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Kedah and Perlis deputy chairman Razmi Rahmat said there was an increase in bookings, with many five-star hotels maintaining an 80% occupancy rate.

       “Some of the five-star hotels even reached 100% bookings since the reopening of the island to tourists on Thursday,” he said yesterday.

       He said promotional rates and tied-up programmes between several five-star hotels and airline companies were among the reasons why these hotels were most sought after by high-end tourists.

       He said tourists who flew in were mostly those who could afford to stay at the top-rated hotels.

       He said these travellers had no other options, except to spend their holiday in Langkawi which was the first destination to be opened in a travel bubble scheme.

       “They have been planning for this trip for so long, so when the opportunity came, they just grabbed it.

       “Another reason is that these expensive hotels are now priced at an affordable rate,” he added.

       Razmi, however, said the booking rate for four-star hotels and below was still slow as it only reached 40% in occupancy rate on the second day of the reopening.

       He said this could be due to a lack of ferry trips as the Kuala Kedah jetty is still under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO)until tomorrow.

       “It will gradually pick up once the EMCO is lifted,” he added.

       Asked whether Langkawi hotels could cope with the increasing number of tourists on the island, Razmi said the hotels were always ready and well-prepared for the reopening.

       He said each hotel has its own standard operating procedure, in addition to the one given by the National Security Council for tourism players.

       “Hotel staff members previously given unpaid leave have also been recalled, so there is no issue of staff shortages at all,” he said.

       After more than a year with hardly any tourists, Langkawi was brimming with domestic travellers on Thursday.

       Entry into Langkawi is only by sea and air, and authorities are ensuring only fully vaccinated tourists who have been screened for Covid-19 can set foot on the island.

       With a local population of 115,000 and almost 90% of them fully vaccinated, the island is the first travel bubble in the country.

       will be the best place to measure the success of the travel bubble scheme, the first to be implemented in the country.