Promote Homestays Act Against Unlicensed Hotels

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From YS Chan
Homestay occurs when visitors stay overnight at lodgings provided by hosts who may be staying alone or with others in the same house. It is not a homestay if guests are not received and entertained by the host during their stay. This is simply because a house by itself is not a home.
In recent years, online marketing platforms such as Airbnb have hijacked the word “homestay” to include staying in houses without hosts. When customers merely occupy vacant apartments or houses with no interaction with hosts, they are just renting these dwellings for private use.
When a spade is not called a spade but a gardening tool, it is beating around the bush. This reminds me of Uber, another adversarial American platform, which continued to describe its service as ridesharing, long after passengers no longer shared rides with others on the same trip.
Renting out entire apartments or houses for short-term stay should have licensing from various authorities as effective measures must be in place to safeguard the interests of guests and neighbours. Also, there must be controls on legitimate businesses, with fees and taxes payable.
However, for residents renting apartments or houses for long-term stay, tenancy agreements are normally signed for one or more years between owners and tenants. When letting out a bedroom, both parties are likely to agree to a deposit with monthly rentals to be paid in advance.
Such arrangements have worked well and do not require any intervention by the authorities. But when entire apartments or houses are rented out by owners or sublet by entrepreneurs for short-term guests, noisy or unruly visitors are a nuisance to the neighbours or condominium.
Functioning like hotels, these unlicensed accommodation should not be allowed to continue operating unless the condominiums were purpose-built at resort areas and the overwhelming majority of owners agreeing that outsiders could enter and exit the premises round the clock.
If not, tragic incidents could occur such as the one at an Ipoh condominium in December 2020. A “homestay” guest was furious that his child was prevented from using the swimming pool that was closed and assaulted an elderly security guard who merely followed instructions.
The guest, having paid to stay in an apartment, must have been anticipating the condominium to be much like a hotel and planned to make full use of all the facilities available, particularly the swimming pool. He was determined to get his money’s worth, and his expectation was high.
But when his child was denied access to the pool, he was enraged and assaulted the security guard on duty using a table. He was initially charged for causing grievous hurt but it became a murder case when the guard eventually succumbed to his injuries some months later.
Since 2016, I have written more than 10 published letters against unlicensed hotels. Hence, I concurred when state executive councillor Jagdeep Singh Deo announced that short-term rentals in landed and high-rise properties will soon be banned in Penang.
This came after numerous complaints from residents’ groups that had to put up with endless annoyances caused by boisterous holidaymakers in apartments, condominiums, and residential neighbourhoods. Hostility could be suppressed temporarily, but violence could ensue eventually.
However, I am not totally against all unlicensed hotels nationwide, only those that cause harm to others. For example, those operating next to registered hotels are only cannibalising the revenue of licensed accommodations, not generating additional income or creating more jobs.
Even without the option to stay in private residences, Malaysia remains an attractive holiday destination as room rates offered by our luxury and tourist class hotels are among the lowest in the world. Furthermore, there is no shortage of affordable budget hotels throughout the country.
Meanwhile, genuine homestays should continue and be promoted. Homes with a spare bedroom or two could be used to take in guests. Payments received by the hosts defray costs for maintaining a house, apartment or alleviate rental charges that main tenants must bear.
Such home-sharing allows visitors to experience hospitality offered by the hosts and is experiential tourism at its finest. The bonus comes when visitors and hosts click, and such experiences are priceless.
This concept is not new. For decades, students in exchange programmes stayed with host families to immerse themselves in a foreign culture. For tourists, the Malaysian Homestay Programme (MHP) was launched by the then culture, arts and tourism ministry in 1995.
Four years ago, I wrote about the MHP and explained that the programme requires the participation of at least 10 houses in a kampung, with bigger ones involving several villages. Nationwide, there were 199 homestay clusters participated by 3,878 homes with 5,445 rooms.
Registered homeowners used to receive 240,000 guests annually, and 79% were Malaysians, while Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China and Europe accounted for 89% of foreign visitors. Of these, 94% chose Johor, Sabah, Melaka, Selangor and Sarawak for their stay.
This homestay programme gives tourists the opportunity to stay with a chosen family, interact and experience their daily life and learn the culture and lifestyle of the rural community. It is not just a lodging facility but focuses on experiences, including cultural and economic activities.
While unlicensed accommodation could be offered and even promoted at locations without hotels nearby, we must not allow property investors and entrepreneurs to turn private residences into unlicensed hotels that could put guests in danger and neighbours at peril.
Allowing “unlicensed hotels” to continue reeks not only of corruption but also promotes a shadow economy while licensed establishments are inadvertently punished. Sadly, illegal use of private residences for short-term rental has been swept under the carpet by the authorities for too long.
Banning it now will not be a moment too soon. - FMT
YS Chan is a tourism industry consultant and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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