Dawos: Conserve tourism attractions

LANGKAWI: Tourism industry players should help conserve and maintain Malaysia’s natural environment, which is a major draw for tourists coming to the country. Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit said efforts to make the tourism sector a major source of income for the country would fail if these natural attractions were contaminated.

Dawos urged the island’s residents to cooperate by taking care of public amenities and prevent vandalism, as it would cause losses not only for the Government, but the people as well. “Vandalism will frustrate plans to develop Langkawi’s economy,” he said when closing the 2011 Langkawi Geopark Carnival organised by the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) at Dataran Lang, here on Saturday. The carnival was held in conjunction with the fourth anniversary of Langkawi’s status as part of the Global Geopark Network by Unesco in 2007. Dawos suggested the carnival should be made an annual event to attract more visitors to Langkawi.

He expressed hope that Langkawi Geopark would continue to be a member of Unesco’s Global Geopark Network after its audit and evaluation this year. Lada general manager Datuk Azman Umar said the declaration of Langkawi as a geopark had boosted the island’s tourism industry.
The five-day carnival saw a variety of events such as geo-hunts, exhibitions, shadow plays, beach volleyball and cultural performances.

— Bernama

Photo: Pelancongan Kini