IPOH, May 22 — The Perak government tabled the Perak Hotel Enactment Bill 2023 for the second reading today, which among others aims to replace the Boarding House Enactment 1927 that has been enforced for 96 years.

State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman, Sandrea Ng Shy Ching said the bill also aims to improve provisions on the management of hotels and accommodations for rent that are increasing in the state.

“The 1927 enactment is no longer able to accommodate the needs of the hotel industry operating today. The guesthouse industry has grown in line with the needs of visitors who are increasingly attracted to tourism activities.

“Many options for tourism places providing accommodation facilities such as hotels, chalets and resorts have begun to be developed rapidly by tourism industry players over the time,” she said when tabling the bill in the State Assembly here today.

Sandrea (PKR-Teja) said the Perak Hotel Enactment Bill 2023 contains 32 clauses which are divided into five sections namely commencement, licensing, enforcement, miscellaneous matters and repeal and transition.

She said the enactment of the bill is expected to boost the hospitality industry in addition to directly benefiting hospitality industry players and tourists to Perak.

The interpretation of ‘hotel’, she said, which is extended to all types of places to board, spend the night or shelter will cover the meaning and open up a wide range of opportunities for all operators of hotels and boarding houses, chalets, rest houses, tents and houseboats. who previously could not be registered to get a hotel licence.

“The recognition of more hotel licensees will be able to boost the promotional activities of interesting places that may not have been widely implemented because they were not included in the categories allowed by the previous legislation.

“This control method through licensing is also important to improve the quality of hotels and places to stay in the entire state of Perak. The standardisation of license conditions is expected to be able to control issues of safety, cleanliness and nuisance which are the considerations and concerns of visitors in the selection of tourist destinations,” she said.

She added that this enactment also empowers the state authorities to levy fees, local service charges or fees to be paid whose rates will be set through regulations after it is enforced.

Meanwhile, at the press conference afterwards, commenting on concerns raised during the debate session that it might burden tourism operators with certain fees, Sandrea said the state government had held engagement sessions with all assemblymen and explained the purpose of the bill.

“The main purpose is to regulate, so we will indeed take into account, for example, the application, the additional cost to the entrepreneur because after approval (of the bill), we will enter the stage for us to set the rules in detail, the conditions to be followed, the fees that will be charged and so on

“We will continue engagement sessions with all parties including homestay operators to take their views into account. We will prioritise the aspect of registering and granting licences for regulation rather than the fees that we want to charge,” she said.

The assembly sits again tomorrow. — Bernama