Surge in ‘revenge travel’ as pent-up demand drives more Malaysians abroad

KUALA LUMPUR – Despite struggling with rising inflation on a daily basis, lawyer Karlina Mohd Salleh, 53, decided to take her two teenagers for a short break in Singapore over the

long Thaipusam weekend

– their first overseas holiday since December 2019.

“I can’t really afford it, but I feel bad for my kids as they have been through a lot, and they haven’t had a holiday for so long,” she told The Straits Times, adding that she scoured the Internet for the cheapest prices possible, given her shoestring budget.

Malaysians are travelling more than ever, despite higher air fares and a weak ringgit, and airlines are scrambling to meet the increase in demand from post-pandemic travellers desperate to make up for two years of coronavirus lockdowns.

Mr Rasulluddin Rahumathullah, senior manager at a currency exchange business in the affluent Kuala Lumpur suburb of Damansara Heights, said many of his customers are taking the opportunity to go abroad, in case there is a fresh Covid-19 outbreak.

“China has reopened and people still have that fear of Covid-19 coming back, due to the high number of cases there. So they are worried they won’t be able to travel if there is another lockdown,” he added.

He said the most commonly bought currency is the British pound, as many of his customers have second homes in Britain, or children studying there.

The second most popular destination is Saudi Arabia, which draws pilgrims as well as tourists, who can take advantage of tourist visas now issued by the government.

“All these contribute towards the booming of currency sales. Last year, there was no activity at all until April when Malaysia reopened its borders,” said Mr Rasulluddin.

Other popular currencies are the Japanese yen, which has weakened since the pandemic, the United States dollar, Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah.

A spokesman for user review platform Tripadvisor, Mr Skye Ferguson, said: “Malaysians are certainly keen to return to international travel, and demand (for bookings) has tripled over the last year.” 

Cities popular with Malaysians on the platform are Bangkok, Singapore, Hat Yai, Seoul and London.

“Our search data indicates that this time last year, only one in 10 Malaysians was planning international travel, versus domestic. In the last months of 2022, that figure increased to over a quarter,” said Mr Ferguson.

While growing, the numbers have yet to reach those prior to the pandemic. Based on Tripadvisor search data, some 32 per cent to 37 per cent of Malaysians planned trips abroad in 2019, while some 62 per cent to 68 per cent travelled domestically.

Malaysians recorded some 13 million international outbound travel trips in 2019, just before the pandemic hit, according to tourism officials.

Data from airlines, however, shows travel is on the upswing.

Long-haul budget carrier AirAsia X said on Jan 27 that the number of passengers it carried in the October-to-December quarter rose 324 per cent over the preceding quarter. Malaysia reopened its international borders on April 1, 2022.

The carrier reported a passenger load factor – the percentage of available seats that are filled – of 79 per cent, close to that recorded pre-pandemic, between October and December 2019, at 81 per cent.

Mr Riad Asmat, chief executive officer of AirAsia Malaysia, said the airline witnessed a V-shaped surge in travel demand when international borders were reopened and Covid-19 restrictions were gradually loosened.

However, its serviceable fleet still stands at a little over half of its 2019 fleet of more than 100 aircraft.

“The good news is we are expecting to have all of our furloughed crew back in early 2023 and to be back to pre-Covid-19 flying levels by early to mid-2024 with new aircraft on order,” he noted.

After pausing deliveries earlier in the pandemic, AirAsia is set to start accepting its new Airbus A321 neo jets from 2024.

Mr Riad noted that many of AirAsia’s grounded planes need to be serviced before they can be flown again after two years, and there is a shortage of maintenance crew and engineers.

“Many other airlines worldwide are also scrambling to cater to the sudden surge in demand for post-Covid-19 travellers,” he said.

National carrier Malaysia Airlines said it foresees “a stronger rebound in international travel for 2023 compared with 2022, with China having significantly eased its border measures”.

Its passenger traffic year-to-date is at 85 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels.

Most routes are seeing an increase in bookings, it said.