Tourism in Sarawak on the rebound but could be thwarted by labour shortage

Miri – 23 March 2023 – At a roundtable discussion during the Borneo SDG Summit in Miri last Saturday, Sarawak Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Sebastian Ting who was one of the panellists, said that one of the biggest challenges facing the hospitality industry in Sarawak post COVID-19 is the shortage of skilled labour.

“Tourism is one of the major economic sectors in Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 and initiatives have been and are currently being undertaken to address this issue towards a resilient tourism economy,” he said.

These initiatives, he said, include policies and financial incentives by the Sarawak government to local tourism industry players such as the disbursement of Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 1.0 to 9.0, with a total expenditure of RM6.7 billion.

The policies and incentives incorporate the reskilling and upskilling programmes for tourism players, increasing flight frequency, providing discounts on tours and hotels under the ‘Sia Sitok’ packages, as well as reinforcing capacity building through the Online Ecosystem Fund.

“Considering the increase of visitor arrivals at over 320 per cent this year compared to the same period in 2022, the prospect of tourism recovery is possible and therefore, stakeholders and the young people in Sarawak must have faith in our tourism industry,” he remarked.

The roundtable discussion was facilitated by Prof. Andreas H. Zins, Dean of Faculty of Business of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia). Prof. Zins opened the discussion by highlighting the PCDS 2030’s projection of an annual growth in tourism demand of 7 to 8 per cent to reach pre-COVID levels by 2025.

According to him, the tourism sector in Sarawak will need 17,500 more employees every year to sustain this growth. Even in the unlikely event all the unemployed in Sarawak joined the tourism sector, the labour market would run dry within just a few years.

Professor Linchi Kwok from The Collins College of Hospitality Management, who was also one of the panellists, highlighted a similar situation in the United States and the European Union. He said that in July 2022, the US recorded 10.9 million new job openings with only 8.7 million unemployed.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), meanwhile, reported a labour shortfall in August 2022 where 1 out of 15 openings in the US (1 out of 6 in the accommodation sector), and 1 out of 9 in the European Union (1 out of 3 in the travel sector and 1 out of 5 in the transportation sector) could not be filled.

Prof. Zins also shared that his colleagues at other Curtin campuses in Australia, Singapore and Mauritius reported similar problems in their countries. He said that many hospitality workers were not keen to go back to their old jobs following COVID-19 and there were multiple reasons for this, though not all were exclusively due to the pandemic. They included concerns about  low salaries, inflexible working hours and conditions, discrimination of women, lack of training opportunities and further education, age discrimination, and generally a bad image of the entire industry.

Speaking on the labour shortage faced by the hospitality sector in Sarawak, Malaysia Association of Hotels Sarawak Chapter president John Teo said that 150,000 official migrant workers and another estimated 150,000 unofficial workers left the state during and after the pandemic, compounding the labour situation. In addition, a huge number of Sarawakians are still registered as residents of the state while working either in West Malaysia or abroad.

Teo remarked that many workers seemed to be flocking to Kalimantan, where Indonesia is building its new capital, due to attractive salaries which are said to be twice or three times higher than what is being offered in Sarawak.

“Hence, the official statistics might deliver a distorted picture. A new challenge is the very fierce labour drain towards Kalimantan where job opportunities appear highly attractive with salaries twice or three times more than what is offered in Sarawak,” he said.

This, he added, serves as a reminder to the government, industry stakeholders and players to stay competitive to mediate the labour shortage issue.

He opined that businesses and employers must do their part to increase the attractiveness of jobs in the tourism industry by listening to their employees and offering more flexibility, as well as providing fun work environments, job rotations and training opportunities.

The panel also urged governments to help project a better image of working in the tourism sector. In addition to spending on advertising tourism destinations and promoting the attractiveness of our culture and nature, equal consideration must be given to educate the public, company owners, young students, fresh graduates, parents, managers, both the employed and unemployed, on the value of working in the sector.

Curtin Malaysia invites more pro-active and meaningful dialogue among tourism stakeholders. Prof. Zins announced that roundtable discussions will continue this year and different tourism stakeholders will be invited to address their concerns and hopes.

“We are striving to deliver better and more sustainable solutions for the government and the tourism sector. Creating more attractive jobs for more people and ensuring that the visitor economy does not fall beyond 12 per cent of Sarawak’s GDP will be our focus,” he concluded.

For more information on Curtin Malaysia, visit curtin.edu.my, or look for Curtin Malaysia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn or Tik-Tok.

Datuk Ting, flanked by Teo (left) and Zins, shares his insights during the roundtable discussion