Johor hotels yet to see Lunar New Year booking surge, says association chairman

JOHOR BAHRU: As businesses in Johor Bahru are preparing for an influx of visitors, including those from the city-state, in time for the Lunar New Year on Feb 17, Malaysian Association of Hotels Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said hotels have yet to see a surge in bookings.

“It is a bit quieter this year. So far, we have not seen any spike in visitors, even tourists from China who typically visit during the festival,” he told The Star, noting that they expect a clearer picture by the end of the month.

He added that the Visit Johor and Malaysia campaigns could hopefully help attract more visitors.

However, business owners said Singaporean shoppers have been pretty early in ordering plants and hampers for the celebration this year, with some businesses already delivering orders as early as two weeks ago.

Some popular plant orders during the Lunar New Year include cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, orchids, and long-lasting plants such as bamboo.

Malaysian and Singaporean buyers have also started ordering hampers around the same time.

“So far, we have delivered at least 300 hampers, including to customers in Singapore,” said a hamper store owner who receives an average of 10,000 orders each year, adding that they expect the number to go up, especially in the two weeks before the festival.

“We hope to achieve a similar figure this year,” he added but noted that the numbers can be hard to predict with more shops offering hampers. /TISG

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