Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) was established in March 1998 and registered with The Registrar of Societies under the Society Act 1966 (registration no. 300 / PPM-001-14-12031998 (new) ) on 12 March 1998.

It is a grouping of hotel owners in Malaysia with the common objective of representing the interests of members in safeguarding their return on investments through a conducive business environment and to promote and support the healthy development of the hotel industry and tourism.

Since the establishment of the association, MAHO has carried out various activities for the benefit of members especially in dealing with the ministries and authorities on issues affecting the hospitality industry particularly the concerns of hotel owners i.e. hotels incentives, taxes, licences, permits and regulatory issues and the tourism industry generally.

As of April 2023 there are 76 members with an inventory of 150 hotels and with a total of more than 45,000 rooms in the country. This represents more than 65% based on room inventory of all 3 - 5 star hotel rooms. MAHO members own several 3-5 star hotels international and local brands such as JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, Sheraton Imperial, Hyatt Regency, Hilton, Le Meridien, Mercure, Dorsett, One World, Berjaya, Lexis, Holiday Villa, Swiss-Garden. Membership was much reduced due to the impact of Covid-19 for 2 years on hotel business which caused some hotels to close down and owners not continuing with their membership.

MAHO is currently making aggressive efforts to have more members as it is obviously understood that the strength of any association lies with its membership.

When the honourable Datuk Paduka Kadir Sheikh Fazdil was the Minister of Culture, Art and Tourism (MoCAT), his ministry had sent out a letter to all hotel owners nationwide encouraging them to be members of MAHO. More hotel owners based outside the Klang Valley are being pursued to be members consistent with MAHO’s intention and MOCAT’s wish for MAHO chapters to be set up in other states for better representation of hotels owners members of MAHO outside the Klang Valley.

MAHO Council is made up of 15 members comprising the President, three Vice-Presidents, the Hon. Treasurer, the Hon. Secretary and nine Council members. The Council conducts its meeting every quarterly and holds its Annual General Meeting once a year. Election of Council Members is done every 3 years.