MELAKA: Visitors have been thronging the historical city in the past month, driving up hotel occupancy to record levels, say local operators.

       Malaysian Association of Hotels Melaka chapter chairman Khairulnizam Kasim said all hotels here had been fully booked since Friday.

       “Tourist arrivals have been overwhelming in the last month.

       “We are back to the good old days and we hope the trend continues,” he said yesterday.

       The local hotels, he added, had been experiencing high occupancy rates since the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season.

       Khairulnizam said he would be able to get the full statistics on the actual occupancy rates today as guests were still making bookings until late evening.

       Many states are seeing a surge in travellers, especially this past weekend, with the start of the first term week-long holiday of the 2022/2023 school session as well as the celebration of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s official birthday yesterday.

       Khairulnizam, however, lamented that the hotels here faced a major shortage of manpower to manage the huge number of guests.

       “This is a setback for the hotel industry currently,” he said.