“Visitors from Australia, the UK,
Holland, and the US top the nonAsian visiting countries,” he said.
Fong said the new routes of budget
airlines such as Hong Kong Express,
connect directly from Hong Kong
to Penang. Malindo Air, flying to
Penang via Kuala Lumpur, also
helped to boost tourist arrivals.
Dragon Air will also start flying from
Hong Kong to Penang in April this
year, he added.
When the Subterranean Penang
International Convention and
Exhibition Centre (SPICE) starts
operating in 2015, MAH expects
a an increase in visitors from the
meeting incentives, conventions, and
exhibitions (MICE) market.
“There will be a shortage of hotel
rooms. There are currently over
14,000 rooms from the 52 members
of MAH (Penang).
“While there are four major hotels
on the way that will provide another
600 to 700 rooms, only one is
confirmed to start operations
this year, which is Royale Bintang
Penang.
“The Rice Miller Hotel, St Giles, and
the Cititel Express are likely to start
operations in 2015 or 2016,” he said.
Penang Global Tourism managing
director Ooi Geok Ling said from
January to November 2013, the
visitors flying directly to Penang
International Airport rose 7% to
601,920 from 550,408 in the same
period of 2012.
“The highest number of Asian
visitors came from Indonesia,
Singapore, and China. The
weakening of the ringgit and the
political instability in Thailand helped
to boost the number of tourist
arrivals in Penang,” Ooi said.
The number of Indonesian visitors
increased to 263,799 during the 11
months from 215,054 in the same
period a year ago, while Singaporean
and China tourists increased
respectively to 112,801 and 50,726,
compared to 85,577 and 40,605 in
the same period a year ago.
achieving an occupancy rate of
67.3%.
“For both hotels, it was the best in
a five-year period. The breakdown
for Eastern & Oriental Hotel was
30% domestic tourists and 70%
international visitors.
“Some 40% of the arrivals were
here for MICE functions, while the
remainder for leisure. Tourists from
Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe,
and Japan topped our list of visitors,”
he added.
The Lone Pine Hotel, located in
the Batu Ferringhi beach area, saw
51% international arrivals, and
49% domestic visitors, according to
Saxon.
Meanwhile, Michael Saxon, Eastern
& Oriental Bhd’s director for
hospitality and lifestyle, said Eastern
& Oriental Hotel and Lone Pine
Hotel, set a new record in terms of
room-night sales for 2013.
“Most of Lone Pine Hotel guests
were here for leisure.
“The Eastern & Oriental Hotel, for
example, sold 44,639 rooms, last
year, compared to 25,325 in 2012.
The occupancy rate went down to
63.7% in 2013 compared to 69.4%
the year before because we added
122 rooms in early 2013, increasing
the total number of rooms to 222,”
he said.
G Hotel sales and marketing director
Kevin Cheah said the occupancy rate
of the hotel is expected to grow to
over 90% in 2013, a 1% rise from
2012.
Lone Pine Hotel sold 22,296 rooms
in 2013, compared to 20,028,
“For the Chinese New Year holidays,
we are expecting over 90%
occupancy for both hotels,” he said.
“The guests were largely
international arrivals, who are
here for leisure. We registered
the highest occupancy rate since
opening for business in 2007,”
Cheah added.
Fong said the new routes of budget airlines such
as Hong Kong Express, connect directly from Hong
Kong to Penang. Malindo Air