Minister Tiong King Sing said the measures to be taken would ensure that the relevant parties would be held accountable in the case of an unfortunate incident such as the December 16, 2022, Batang Kali landslide tragedy at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite which claimed 31 lives.

“Give us one to two months to establish the (Airbnb) guidelines. Otherwise, if there are incidents like the Batang Kali landslide tragedy, who will be accountable?” he told FMT at the sidelines of a breaking of fast event.

Tiong was responding to complaints from budget hotel operators who claimed that they had been losing their customers to short-term residential accommodation.

In February, Malaysia Budget and Business Hotel Association president Sri Ganesh Michiel said the association had asked the government to regulate the Airbnb businesses so that they could operate on a level playing field. However, their request was unsuccessful.

Yesterday, Ganesh urged the government to resolve problems affecting the industry before asking more hoteliers to support the Rahmah initiative which sees products and services offered at lower prices.

He said if the government failed to settle the long-standing threats to the industry, the hotel operators should not be expected to fork out more money.