Langkawi's charter incentive drives arrivals

Malaysia's Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) is keen to attract more charters to the island, having launched the Langkawi Charter Flight Incentive Programme (LCFIP) early last year.

Through LFCIP, which runs until December 31, 2015, LADA will provide financial support to charterers for their flight promotions to Langkawi, as well as assistance in joint marketing. Malaysia Airports Holdings, which manages Langkawi International Airport, also provides free landing and parking to charterers participating in the programme.

At press time, LADA had secured 32 charter flights for this winter season, an increase from 27 last winter, with confirmed carriers such as Finnair, Novair, SCAT Air, Eva Air and Korean Air, said Rosnina Yaacob, LADA’s tourism division manager. She added that LADA had also intensified its marketing efforts in Europe. “Europeans comprised 30 per cent of the total three million tourist arrivals and day trippers to Langkawi in 2012. This year, our target is to grow European arrivals to 35 per cent and total arrivals, including day trippers, to 5.9 million.”

Ting Zhang, sales and administration manager for In Depth Tourism Marketing UK, the sales office for The Danna Langkawi resort, lauded the LCFIP for providing more opportunities to woo longhaul travellers, particularly the high-yield Scandinavian market.

Nasha Abdullah, managing director, Malai Adventure Malaysia, agreed: “Word of mouth marketing is very important for the Scandinavian traveller. They are also creatures of habit, with the tendency to return to the places they have gone before provided they had positive, memorable experiences.”

-TTG Asia.