- February 24, 2019 @ 11:12am
KOTA KINABALU: The increased number of Free Independent Travellers (FIT) in Sabah is one of the reasons affecting hotel occupancy and tour bookings in the state.
Sabah Tourist Association chairman Tony Chew said these travellers are price-conscious and usually look for services and products that are value-for-money.
“These travellers are making their own bookings for scheduled flights instead of charter flights and are not likely to book hotels that are 4-star and above during their stays.
“Besides that, they also prefer to use short-term rentals such as Airbnb and ride-hailing app Grab for their vacation needs,” he told the New Straits Times, adding that those activities are hard to trace for statistics and have affected bookings with travel agencies.
Based on Sabah Tourism Board Research Division’s statistics last year for international visitors, the FIT group comprised of 54 per cent, as compared to package tours at 31 per cent.
It was recently reported that hoteliers, tour operators, guides and several other tourism players cited losses of between 20 to 50 per cent despite the recent announcement by Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry on tourism receipts of RM8.3 billion with tourist arrivals of 3.8 million last year.
Data on tourist arrivals is obtained from the Immigration Department for all entry points in Sabah, including cruise ships in which some of the passengers do not check-in at any accommodation in the state.
China, which is the top market source, saw a total of 593,623 visitors last year which is an increase of 37 per cent from the previous year.
Chew said that the rise of independent travellers, especially from China, is due to the people here who could communicate in the Chinese language which makes it easy for these tourists to make their own arrangements.
“Another concern with regard to the increase of FIT is the mushrooming of illegal tour operators who offer cheaper prices to them.
“The change of trend means it is competitive for travel companies, who have to bear additional operating costs. But they need to change and be more innovative to cater to independent travellers.”
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