Owner of Pawana Jerai Resort, Yani Yunus, 49, said that customers have been booking her beachfront resort in Yan since July 29, which was nomination day, Utusan Malaysia reported.

“Normally, the resort is fully booked during school holidays or celebrations. But this time, (other than the usual resort rooms) the reservations also involve camping sites,” she was quoted as saying.

Yani added most of the bookings are for chalets, resorts and homestays because areas such as Pekan Gurun, Guar Chempedak and Yan don’t have many established hotels and guesthouses to offer.

“Furthermore, customers are coming here because Baddrol Bakhtiar, who is Kedah’s former national football player, is contesting in Gurun.

“So besides being attracted to the beauty of this district, his supporters from outside the state chose to stay in Yan,” she said, according to the Malay-language daily.

A homestay owner, Arifuddin Rozali, 34, said the state polls had generated extra income for him as two of his houses in Gurun had been rented out since the end of July.

“Our customers consist of the candidates’ assistants and supporters. They came all the way from Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Perak, and they rented the place until the end of the state election,” he said.

Another homestay operator in Kampung Raga, Yassin Salleh, 49, said almost all of the accommodations in his village have been booked from Aug 10 to 13.