By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Aug 16: Sarawak Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has urged homestay operators to register themselves to relevant agencies and authorities ensure they are regulated and insured.
He highlighted that as of today, there are already 65 homestay clusters registered with Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) throughout Sarawak, with possibly hundreds more still unregistered.
Abdul Karim stressed that registration is crucial in protecting both homestay owners and their guests in the event of untoward incidents during a stay.
“Maybe to operators, they might not see it, but then once they are registered, then we can regulate, ensure that each one of them are insured.
“In the event that guests stay in the homestay, something happens to them, and if it’s not insured, there’s a big problem there. Sometimes, foreign guests especially, they might not realise that the places that they go to, the ones that they get connected through online, and where they stay, these might not be insured,” Abdul Karim said during his speech at DayakDaily’s ‘Homestay Odyssey’ Writing Competition 2025 Awards Ceremony today.
He further highlighted the lucrative potential of the homestay industry in uplifting local communities and pledged that his ministry would continue to support and promote this sector.
For 2024, he noted that his ministry recorded 52,927 domestic homestay guests and 3,046 foreign guests, contributing RM6.7 million in receipts.
“That to us is an achievement which we intend to leverage as a foundation for future success,” he said.
“My Ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia will continue to organise engagement sessions with communities to increase awareness and encourage local communities to actively participate in tourism activities, especially in rural and community-based tourism activities, especially homestays,” he said.
Abdul Karim also pointed out that his ministry is actively conducting capacity building trainings for homestay operators, which includes trainings such as Hospitality and Service Quality Trainings, Digital Marketing Trainings, Craft Development, Leadership and Management Skills, as well as Communication Skills.
“We aim to equip the local communities with knowledge and practical skills and to ensure that tourism growth benefits local livelihoods, especially for their homestays, preserves traditions, and protects the environment,” he added. – DayakDaily
