Owners of lodging premises in the state of Trengganu have been told not to use the word ‘homestay’ to describe their operations as this is confusing especially to foreign tourists, the Tourism Ministry’s office in Terengganu said yesterday.
This confusion is largely attributed to the Ministry itself for not laying the proper foundation for the establishment of this kind of accomodation. Rather the use of homestay as an accomodation is also very confusion.
The term homestay originated from a youth development program which cater for young people interested in the culture of other people by staying in their homes and joining the various activities carried out by that community.
Assistant director, Mazshida Ruslal, said her office received numerous complaints from foreign tourists who were disappointed with the quality of service at these premises.“Homestay is about tourists staying with house owners and joining them in the community’s daily routine.
“This is quite different from what has been offered by premises owners who merely provide lodging for tourists, similar to what is being offered by hotels,” she added.
“They have also registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia to carry out their business but not all have the licence from the local authorities to operate,” she said, adding that her office had requested that the commission no longer allow new registration of lodging operators using the word ‘homestay’.
“They can either use the word lodging house or Inn, which is in line with the service offerred by them, which is to provide accommodation. We welcome the participation of more operators to promote tourism in Terengganu but they should carry out their operations in a proper manner,” she added.
Again "homestay" is not about accomodation. Let's get this straight.
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