SIBU, Aug 3: Sarawak Central Region Hotels Association foresees that under the new normal, hoteliers will only accept guests who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Its vice-chairman Lang Jai Lee today opined that this new ruling will take effect very soon, once restrictions ease.
“We will be like the central market where Sibu Municipal Council has implemented the no-vaccination-no-entry ruling from August 1,” he said.
Lang said the ruling is necessary so as to prevent hotels being ordered to close for 14 days should an infection occur.
“Hotels in the region like elsewhere have been closed for more than one year already due to the pandemic. Though some have earnings as their premises have been used as a quarantine centre, overall most hotels have been suffering. The reserves of most hotels are depleting. We cannot afford to have another closure if a positive case is detected due to a particular guest,” he said.
He explained that guests who are either staying in the hotel or attending dinner on site, will have to show either their digital vaccination certificate in their MySejahtera app or vaccination card.
Lang who is a general manager of a hotel here, encouraged the vaccine-hesitant to get their vaccinations as most places and not just hotels will also implement such ruling.
Hoteliers, he said, had implemented such ruling for their staff.
“Almost all if not 100 per cent of hotel staff in the region have received the vaccine. We have made vaccinations compulsory for hotel workers. We told our staff that if they do not want to get vaccinated, they should work somewhere else,” he said.
He revealed staff who have not been inoculated are those who have medical issues but he believed that they will soon take up the vaccination also.
On a brighter note, he said hotels would experience better business with inter-district travel allowed starting Aug 4 as Sarawak enters Phase 3 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP).
“For more than a year now, there was only one to two-room occupancy a month. But with inter-district travel now permitted, we hope business will improve,” he said. — DayakDaily
