Mohd Yusof (left) presenting a souvenir to Samat as Tan looks on.
KUCHING: The budget hotel industry in the state has a bright future and the potential to prosper, said Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, Trade and Investment Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan.
This, he said, was based on the large number of tourists coming to the state the past two years.
He said statistics from Ministry of Tourism showed that tourist arrival to the state from January to November last year was 4,151,231 and 4,517,170 in 2015.
“The number of tourist arrivals (to the state) should become an important information for those operating cooperatives to venture into the budget hotel industry, and an indicator for those operating budget hotels that the future of the industry is brighter,” Awang Tengah said.
He made these remarks in his text of speech read out by Entrepreneur Development and Halal Industry Unit director Samat Juna, who represented him at the closing of a talk on the business potential of budget hotel industry at Imperial Hotel here yesterday, organised by Malaysia Cooperative College (MKM).
The Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment also said that based on the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the state has 169 budget hotels with star ratings of 1, 2 and 3, which gives cooperatives the opportunity to venture into the industry in the state.
Awang Tengah also said the state, through the State Planning Authority (SPA), has a few criteria for the setting-up of budget hotels, among them that the building must not affect traffic flow, has ample parking lots and abide by the Building Ordinance, 1994 and fulfil the requirement of the Fire and Rescue Department.
MKM board of directors member Prof Datuk Mohd Yusof Kasim said the state MKM would focus on wholesale and retail, and tourism this year to give high impact to cooperatives which have direct involvement in the sectors.
The state MKM would offer management and technical courses to improve management and administration of co-ops.
Present was the state director of Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Datuk Stanley Tan.