Minister sees red over hotel uniforms

Malaysia's tourism minister has lambasted hoteliers for breaking a promise to dress their staff in traditional costumes and said retailers should do more to decorate outlets to promote the culture and heritage of the nation.

Datuk Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said hotel operators and retailers had promised to dress staff in costumes and decorate for the month-long Mega Sale Carnival, which started on Saturday night.

"Although they have promised many times to decorate their premises, when we come for an inspection there is not even any lighting, not even a banner is put up," he said. "There is no carnival atmosphere at all."

Kadir said that during a closed door meeting a year ago, the industry had promised they would do four things to help promote Malaysia in line with the "Malaysia Truly Asia" campaign.

These are to adopt the Malaysian style of greeting (placing the right hand on the heart), change staff uniforms to traditional attire, set up inhouse cultural bodies (for hotels) and treat tourists "like guests in your own home".

But Dato Kadir said it has been over a year and the private sector, including hotels, shopping centres, tourism agencies and related organisations, have yet to keep their promises.

While he concurs that several hotels are practising the Malaysian way of greeting, he says that's not enough. To date only the Palace of the Golden Horses has adopted the full four measures. Its sister properties, the Mines Beach Resort & Spa and Mines Shopping Complex, will soon follow suit.

Many hotels say it's too expensive to change décor and staff uniforms, but Kadir refuses to accept excuses.

"They can spend lots of money for marble, granite and elaborate settings in building the hotels. But the effort costs so little compared to the tremendous effect it will have on our visitors."

Kadir said that while the government had spent millions to promote the carnival to boost Malaysia as a shopping destination, the immediate beneficiary - the retail sector - did not seem to care.

"This is all very frustrating and a real disappointment," he said.

Is the private sector guilty as charged? In the minister's eyes it is. On the other hand the private sector says it's supporting the minister.

A number of hotels and travel agencies have launched special shopping packages for the Mega Sales Carnival.

As for the four ways to promote Malaysia, most hotels and travel agencies are implementing them, but perhaps too slow for Dato Kadir.

Many companies are still struggling after two bruising years of the economic downtrend. Business is just picking up.

In the meantime, they do what they can. Some Malaysian-owned hotels already have their staff in traditional attire and their interiors decorated Malaysian style from the day they opened.

Prior to last year's meeting, some hotels had changed staff uniforms and had to convince owners to pump in more money for another change. For some hotel groups, uniforms are standardised internationally but they have made concessions in other areas to reflect the traditional element.

The misconception of non-cooperation from the private sector could be due to miscommunication.

The travel industry generally has the tendency of not speaking up at dialogues, whether it is with the tourism minister, Tourism Malaysia or related government agencies.

Except for the same few people, most participants prefer to remain silent. This may be due to indifference, shyness or a fear of offending those in power. Whatever the reasons, such silence is usually misconstrued as consent or, worse, indifference.

The travel trade needs to speak out. The minister should be commended for his persistence. Industry representatives have to take the bull by the horn this time and voice their views.

Dato Kadir will appreciate this more than silence. As he says, efforts to promote the country "can only be really successful if the private sector shows enthusiasm and spirit to do it".

The minister should take heart from the latest statistics on tourist arrivals to Malaysia. For the first six months of this year tourist arrivals to the country reached 4.7 million, a 49.1 percent increase over the corresponding period in 1999.

Obviously the country is doing something right to have such encouraging results - with or without the help of the private sector.