DBKK to decide on 'urban stay'
Published on: Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: The Tourism and Culture Ministry's (Motac) Sabah office is leaving it to City Hall to decide whether a group of house owners here should be allowed to rent their homes out on a daily basis. Office Director, Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar on Monday said Motac doesn't have any law to stop them from renting out their homes, except local government by-laws that restrict such operations as well as the authority to issue business licenses. He said this in view of the request of about 150 house owners who called on the government to legitimise their business as a form of a homestay operation, they described as 'urban stay'.
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They are now operating under the radar of law and are scattered in housing estates, apartments and condominiums around the city. "Their move is against the law but not under our Tourism Industry Act. They need to iron out the legitimacy bits with the local government first before dealing with Motac. "Motac's concern at this moment is the use of the word homestay, and them trying to sell tour packages and them engaging with illegal tour buses," he said. Ag Ahmad Zaki said this after having a dialogue with several of the house owners here, where he advised and issued a stern warning over the abovementioned problems.
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According to him, the group, some of whom have been operating for over two decades under the brand of homestay are painting a false image of a true homestay experience to tourists in Sabah. "We don't want them to use the word homestay as this is an initiative by the ministry to have tourists experience the way of life of those in the village," said Ahmad Zaki, revealing their strong presence on social media and online portals had a direct correlation to Sabah's homestay not reaping the full potentials of the Motac tourism product.
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He believed the income of 21 homestays in Sabah could be better than just the RM3.93 million revenue they made in 2015 if the word 'homestay' had not be abused by them. Ahmad Zaki said he had also warned them not to sell tour packages and engage or be an illegal 'white van' operator, saying the ministry office had discovered that they had been involved in such operations previously. "The group said they were willing to comply with the ministry's orders. "And if they are serious about being in the tourism industry, we welcome them to apply for licences with Motac once they have set up a legit company," he said. On the 'urban stay' proposal, Ahmad Zaki said the group must first get the permission from the local authorities before engaging Motac on their plans. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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