MIRI: The handover of 99 local routes to AirAsia by Malaysia Airlines from Aug 1 has put many travel agents here in a bind as up to 18,000 foreign tourists, who have confirmed their trip to the Mulu National Park, are threatening to cancel their bookings.
The tourists want confirmed air tickets but local agents here, the gateway to Mulu, are unable to do so because MAS
has instructed them to cancel their bookings as the national carrier was handing over its rural flight services to AirAsia.
However, AirAsia will only be able to handle bookings on July 1 at the earliest, provided the new airline it had contracted to operate the rural air services gets the regulatory approval.
If the Mulu-bound tourists cancel their bookings, the country stands to lose more than RM34mil in foreign exchange. Each tourist to Malaysia is estimated to spend about RM1,900 per trip per person.
The travel agents here convened an emergency meeting with Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Gracie Geikie, seeking the board's help to avert what could be a blow to the state's tourism industry.
Tourists, about 80% of them foreigners, had given notices to travel agents, saying that they would have to cancel their bookings if the agents could not issue them confirmed flight tickets soon.
“STB has contacted AirAsia's management and was informed that the budget airline is still in the process of working out the arrangements.
“These tourists cannot wait because they are long-haul passengers and they need to confirm their travel plan months ahead,” said Geikie after the meeting.
She said the STB had highlighted the problem to the state government and the two airlines,
“We are not just talking about Mulu. These foreigners coming to Mulu will come through KLIA or Kuching or Kota Kinabalu, and then fly from Miri to Mulu. They usually will visit other destinations in Malaysia before or after they come to Mulu,” she said.
Another popular eco-tourism spot that could be affected by the same problem is the Danum Valley in Sabah as the flight to Lahad Datu from Kota Kinabalu will also be handed over to AirAsia.
Besides the Danum Valley, Lahad Datu is also the gateway to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, which is home to the Borneo pigmy elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros and orang-utan. It is also a popular tourist destination.
An AirAsia spokesman appealed to all tour operators and travel agents to hold on to their bookings.
She said AirAsia had announced that it had subcontracted the rural air service to a new airline – Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) and was now obtaining regulatory approval to commence operations on Aug 1.
“The decision by MAS to close these bookings at such short notice before the new airline is ready to begin sales has affected many parties.
“There will be minimal changes to the new flight schedules for pending bookings for the rural air services,” she said, adding that tourists with confirmed bookings must not cancel their bookings but wait until July 1 so that FAX can open its seats for sale.
MAS said the airline needed to give early notice to travel agents so that the passengers could make alternative plans as the change of routes affected the whole country.
From Aug 1, MAS will only fly to 19 local destinations deemed trunk routes while AirAsia will fly to 99 others, including Mulu.
“All bookings for travel on the 99 non-trunk domestic routes on and after Aug 1 will be cancelled,” MAS said, adding that the airline's Mulu, Limbang and Lahad Datu stations would also be closed.
As at mid-May, 33,280 bookings have been made and a total of 13,085 tickets have been issued on these non-trunk routes for travel beyond Aug 1.
FLORENCE A. SAMY reports that Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim has assured that foreign tourists would get flight tickets to local destinations during the transition period.
Lim said the Government would ensure that tourists would not be left in the lurch during the transition and would come up with a solution soon.
“Even if these tourists can't get online flight tickets during the transition, we will make sure they get paper tickets so that they can fly here,” he said.
The tourists want confirmed air tickets but local agents here, the gateway to Mulu, are unable to do so because MAS
has instructed them to cancel their bookings as the national carrier was handing over its rural flight services to AirAsia.
However, AirAsia will only be able to handle bookings on July 1 at the earliest, provided the new airline it had contracted to operate the rural air services gets the regulatory approval.
If the Mulu-bound tourists cancel their bookings, the country stands to lose more than RM34mil in foreign exchange. Each tourist to Malaysia is estimated to spend about RM1,900 per trip per person.
The travel agents here convened an emergency meeting with Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Gracie Geikie, seeking the board's help to avert what could be a blow to the state's tourism industry.
Tourists, about 80% of them foreigners, had given notices to travel agents, saying that they would have to cancel their bookings if the agents could not issue them confirmed flight tickets soon.
“STB has contacted AirAsia's management and was informed that the budget airline is still in the process of working out the arrangements.
“These tourists cannot wait because they are long-haul passengers and they need to confirm their travel plan months ahead,” said Geikie after the meeting.
She said the STB had highlighted the problem to the state government and the two airlines,
“We are not just talking about Mulu. These foreigners coming to Mulu will come through KLIA or Kuching or Kota Kinabalu, and then fly from Miri to Mulu. They usually will visit other destinations in Malaysia before or after they come to Mulu,” she said.
Another popular eco-tourism spot that could be affected by the same problem is the Danum Valley in Sabah as the flight to Lahad Datu from Kota Kinabalu will also be handed over to AirAsia.
Besides the Danum Valley, Lahad Datu is also the gateway to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, which is home to the Borneo pigmy elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros and orang-utan. It is also a popular tourist destination.
An AirAsia spokesman appealed to all tour operators and travel agents to hold on to their bookings.
She said AirAsia had announced that it had subcontracted the rural air service to a new airline – Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) and was now obtaining regulatory approval to commence operations on Aug 1.
“The decision by MAS to close these bookings at such short notice before the new airline is ready to begin sales has affected many parties.
“There will be minimal changes to the new flight schedules for pending bookings for the rural air services,” she said, adding that tourists with confirmed bookings must not cancel their bookings but wait until July 1 so that FAX can open its seats for sale.
MAS said the airline needed to give early notice to travel agents so that the passengers could make alternative plans as the change of routes affected the whole country.
From Aug 1, MAS will only fly to 19 local destinations deemed trunk routes while AirAsia will fly to 99 others, including Mulu.
“All bookings for travel on the 99 non-trunk domestic routes on and after Aug 1 will be cancelled,” MAS said, adding that the airline's Mulu, Limbang and Lahad Datu stations would also be closed.
As at mid-May, 33,280 bookings have been made and a total of 13,085 tickets have been issued on these non-trunk routes for travel beyond Aug 1.
FLORENCE A. SAMY reports that Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Donald Lim has assured that foreign tourists would get flight tickets to local destinations during the transition period.
Lim said the Government would ensure that tourists would not be left in the lurch during the transition and would come up with a solution soon.
“Even if these tourists can't get online flight tickets during the transition, we will make sure they get paper tickets so that they can fly here,” he said.
Source: The Star
No comments:
Post a Comment