Malaysia hotel room rates to rise by 30% from March

Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in October last year decided to raise the sales and service rate from 6% to 8%, which will take effect from March 1.

Hotel operators predict room rates could rise by between 10-30% as a result, Malay Mail reported.

Malaysian Hotel Association president Datin Christina Toh said Malaysia boasts some of the lowest hotel room rates in the Southeast Asian region and the price hike would not affect tourism, news site Sinar Harian reported.

Malaysia Tourism Federation president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said there would be no major impact because Malaysian currency was at the lowest and visa-free policies were able to attract foreign tourists from major source markets, according to Malaysia News.

However, Tan said domestic tourism could be affected, adding that he hoped hotel operators would consider alternate pricing for domestic travelers.

Malaysia last year waived visas for Indian and Chinese tourists to catch up with Thailand in regional tourism race.

The country recorded nearly 29 million foreign arrivals last year, becoming the most popular destination in Southeast Asia, a throne that previously belonged to Thailand, according to Focus Malaysia.