RWG cuts capacity, offerings amid Malaysia partial lockdown

Jan 13, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Rest of Asia, Top of the deck  

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Malaysian casino complex Resorts World Genting (RWG) at Genting Highlands near the nation’s capital Kuala Lumpur, said in a notice that it would reduce its capacity and temporarily suspend some attractions, following a fresh movement control order imposed by the Malaysian government to parts of the country, to contain Covid-19.

The order, announced on Monday by Malaysia’s prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, covers five states – Penang, Selangor, Melaka, Johor and Sabah – and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. It runs from Wednesday (January 13) until January 26.

Interstate travel is banned across the country, while journeys between districts are not allowed within those states placed under a movement control order.

“With this announcement, we anticipate a decline in the number of visitors to Resorts World Genting,” stated the property (pictured in a file photo) in the notice, published on its website on Tuesday.

“Hence, we will be operating at a lower capacity and some of our offerings may not be available from January 13,” it said.

Resorts World Genting added that “some” of its “hotels, facilities, attractions and other offerings will be subjected to revised operating hours, limited availability or temporary closure”.

The property advised consumers to visit Resorts World Genting’s official website for further information.

Resorts World Genting is owned and operated by Genting Malaysia Bhd. It is the only legal casino property in Malaysia.

The country is currently facing a new spike in Covid-19 cases. According to the Ministry of Health, Malaysia recorded 3,309 new Covid-19 cases during the 24-hour period ended noon Tuesday, a new daily record for infections in the nation. The new cases brought the national tally of infections to 141,533. A total of 559 people had died in Malaysia from Covid-19.

A previous movement control order last year had required Resorts World Genting to shut operations for about three months, from March to June 2020.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd wrote in a note on Tuesday that the latest movement control order could last for “three months at least” in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, “key markets” for Resorts World Genting. The forecast was based on previous practice by the Malaysian authorities in similar situations and taking into account the high number of new Covid-19 cases being recorded in the country.

“This may cause Resorts World Genting to forego the Chinese New Year peak season [in February] and raise doubts if Genting Skyworlds will open in the second half of 2021,” said Maybank analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang.

Outdoor theme park Genting Skyworlds is to feature cinematic themes linked to the 20th Century Fox movie brand, according to previous reports.

Maybank’s Tuesday note mentioned that it was not the first time Resorts World Genting was facing inter-state travel disruption due to measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.

“Resorts World Genting daily visitor arrivals fell from the recent peak of approximately 50,000 to around 15,000 after most states in Peninsular Malaysia went into conditional movement control order that barred inter-state travel on November 9,” noted Mr Yip.

In light of the latest developments, Maybank said would cut its full-year 2021 estimate for visitor arrivals to the property to 15 million from a prior forecast of 18 million.

Resorts World Genting said last week several workers from the property’s staff canteens tested positive for Covid-19 in early January. It did not disclose the number of employees that had tested positive.

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