Starting from January 1, 2025, the official two-day weekend in Johor, Malaysia will be officially adjusted to Saturday and Sunday. This change was announced by Johor Regent Donggu Ismail with the royal permission of the Head of State Sultan Ibrahim and after listening to the opinions of the Johor Islamic Bureau. This adjustment aims to better adapt to the pace and needs of people's lives, but it has also triggered a series of chain reactions in the tourism and hotel industries.

In the past, the official two-day weekend in Johor was on Fridays and Saturdays. This arrangement has resulted in many parents working in private enterprises or Singapore being able to spend time with their children only on Saturdays, with limited time and difficulty arranging long-distance travel. However, with the adjustment of weekends next year, parents will spend more time with their children, which is expected to encourage more families to choose to take short trips on weekends and enjoy parent-child time.

Johor, as the border region between Malaysia and Singapore, has always been a popular tourist destination for tourists from both countries. With the adjustment of weekends, it is expected that more Malaysian families and Singaporean tourists will flock to popular attractions and hotels in Johor on weekends. This concentration of consumption will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the local tourism and hotel industries.  

Zhang Diwei, Chairman of the Johor Branch of the Malaysian Hotel Industry Association, stated that in the past, due to the inconsistency between Johor's official two-day weekend and Singapore and private companies' two-day weekend, many parents would choose to take their children to scenic hotels on Fridays and Saturdays to avoid peak periods with Singaporean tourists. However, with the unification of weekends next year, it is expected that all tourists will concentrate on playing and staying in hotels on Saturdays and Sundays. This change may lead to an increase in hotel prices in popular areas of Johor to meet the growing demand for accommodation.

However, not everyone holds the same view. The Chairman of the Johor Business Hotels Association, Xie Bing, believes that currently, hotels in Johor implement "weekend room rates" uniformly on Fridays and Saturdays, which is consistent with international practices. Therefore, he believes that the adjustment of weekends will not have a direct impact on housing prices. Meanwhile, in order to maintain the competitiveness of local business hotels, Xie Bing believes that the room rates of business hotels will not increase as a result.

Despite different opinions, it cannot be denied that the adjustment of weekends will indeed have a profound impact on Johor's tourism and hotel industries. On the one hand, more tourists will bring greater market demand and promote the development of the hotel industry; On the other hand, balancing supply and demand, maintaining reasonable prices, and improving service quality will become important challenges facing the hotel industry.

For consumers, the adjustment of weekends has also brought new travel options. They can use more ample time to plan short trips and enjoy the wonderful time spent with their families.