The Effect of the Arab Spring Revolution on the Malaysian Hospitality Industry

Abstract

The current paper investigates the effects of the Arab revolution crisis on the Malaysian hotel and tourism industry. This crisis started in Tunis after decades of bureaucratic spontaneous protests and demonstrations which later spread to Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria. There was a wave of inversions experienced in the last two years shifting the balance of power in the Middle East and North Africa. This research aims to mark one of the first attempts to investigate the effect of this crisis on the hotel and tourism sector in Malaysia. It will then discuss its effects on the tourist arrivals from the Middle East to Malaysia and analyze the occupancy rate during the Arab spring revolution. The results of this study explain that, during the crisis, statistics show that international arrivals to Malaysia from the Middle East and the world is on the increase. This is especially true of the countries currently in a revolution with regard to their country’s insecurity and their search for alternative safe destinations.