JOHOR BAHRU: This year, 776 hotel employees from 39 hotels – spread across brands and locations – participated in the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Run.

The event was flagged off by Johor’s Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Dato’ Ghazi.

The 7km run was organized by MAH Johor chapter as an annual run for hoteliers.

Present for the event were Raven Kumar Krishnasamy, exco for Unity, Heritage and Culture, Ling Tian Soon, exco for Health and Environment, Datuk Mohd Hafiz Ahmad, Mayor of Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri, and Ahmad Nazir Mohd Nasir, District Officer of Johor Bahru.

Also present were Sharil Nizam Ahmad Rahim, Director of Tourism Johor, Lim Choong Sean, Vice-President of MAH and Ivan Teo, MAH Johor chapter Chairman.

Datuk Onn Hafiz praised the hotel association for helping to promote sports to its members.

“The Johor government is committed to positioning Johor state as a leading sports tourism destination with the many available new sports facilities that are being planned on an international level,” said Datuk Onn Hafiz.

Sports, he said, also improve social connectivity and inclusion, building communities that enable diversity as well as unity among the races.

He went on to say that the state is preparing for Visit Johor Year 2026 and hopes the industry players are ready to offer their best services in the hospitality field.

He also pointed out that the tourism sector was one of the worst affected during the Covid-19 pandemic when many lost their jobs and some hotels closed.

“However, this industry is developing again and becoming one of the fastest growing industries in Johor, and the launch of Special Financial Zone (SFZ) and Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will further strengthen this sector.

He called on the MAH to play an important role in making this mission a success.

“Your hotel room will be important in the coming years. So, it is important for all hotels to provide the best in terms of facilities and manpower to welcome the influx of tourists,” he stated.

Datuk Onn Hafiz said this while speaking at the MAH Johor chapter 2024 Run program at Gateway Garden, Bandar Medini.

Meanwhile, MAH vice-president Lim Choong Sean praised Hafiz’s leadership for driving the industry forward by promoting Johor’s tourism offer.

He said the success of Johor’s tourism industry is proof of his dedication.

“Datuk Onn Hafiz strongly emphasized that a strong sense of belonging in the hotel community is very important to maintain employees in an industry that often faces the situation of employees quitting their jobs,” said Lim.

He further said that the Johor hotel industry continues to grow with the second highest number of rooms in Malaysia, totaling 18,654 after Kuala Lumpur.

He added that Johor also has the fourth largest membership under MAH.

MAH president Datin Christina Toh, in her message welcomed the event as not only about getting fit and healthy but also the event being the means of coming together as a community of hoteliers.

The hotelier community is relatively small. The individual you are currently working with may become your future colleague and peer, remarked Datin Toh, who emphasizes the significance of fostering a strong sense of belonging. This sense of belonging is crucial for retaining talent within the local hotel industry, which frequently faces high turnover rates.

This marks the second occasion on which the event has been organized. The previous year’s event saw a total of 580 hotel employees participating.