GE13 uncertainties hurting travel agents

The uncertainties on the upcoming election date are affecting the rice bowl of a number of travel agencies, as Malaysians are putting their travel plans on hold so that they would be around to vote during the election.

According to the travel agents contact by Astro Awani, it was discovered that some are experiencing a significant drop in sales as well as public response.

"Normally people loves to go on vacation in this month, since the month of March to May is a spring season in most countries in the world," said Tai Poh Kim, a supervisor from Hello Holidays.

He said that people are hesitating to set dates for their vacation, as they fear that election could take place during this school holiday.

Other travel agents also said that they are experiencing poor sales. One of the agents said that some of its customers have booked tickets, only to cancel it at the last minute.

Of course, the travel agents also pointed out that other possible reasons that could attribute to the poor sales include the weaker ringgit versus the US dollar and Euro, as well as the economic uncertainties.

"I’m afraid that the street will be crowded and many shops will be closed, so when I’ve heard that my holiday trip will be on election’s season, I’ve decided to cancel it” said Arifah Azman, 32, private sector employee who has canceled a four-day-trip to Langkawi.

Arifah also stated that she did not want to take a risk by having a difficulties while vacation during election time.

During the recent Matta Fair (in March), the organising committee were targeting a RM90 million sales. A year ago, it was targeting a RM100 million sales.

Good news is not all travel agencies are experiencing a slowdown in sales.

Liyana Roslan, Tourism Executive at Triways Travel Network, said that the response from crowds are very encouraging, especially a holiday trip on a week before the school holidays until month of April.

"This election season does not give any effect on the sales to our company. Sales have increased compared to the same month last year" said Liyana.