Langkawi, Malaysia: Top-Tier Hotel Market

Market Report: Langkawi Top-Tier Hotel Market

Malaysia has been under a Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March 2020 and as the country nears the one-year anniversary of this event, Horwath HTL Malaysia looked at the Langkawi Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels to see how they had been performing leading up to and during the global pandemic.

Notably, Langkawi suffered a major setback in tourist arrivals in 2020, witnessing a 54% decline to only 1.8 million from the all-time high of 3.92 million arrivals in 2019, in the wake of MCO travel restrictions. It is also noteworthy that about 44% of the arrivals in 2020 were driven by the first quarter.  This is well reflected in the Occupancy and ADR performances of the Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels in Langkawi, which saw demand shrink once international travel halted.

Langkawi’s top tier resorts are expected to rebound slowly in 2021 and continue to recover as domestic travel restrictions are being eased and vaccination programs commence. Continued improvements to performance are expected from 2023 to 2026, as international travel resumes. We anticipate that Langkawi will reach its 2019 (pre-COVID) occupancy level in 2025.