Popular travel fair to be held in Selangor

Syed Abdul Rahman (centre) with sponsors and strategic partners of 

the MATTA Fair Selangor Carnival 2018 in Serdang.

THE Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Selangor will introduce its inaugural MATTA Fair Selangor Carnival 2018 this July.

The upcoming consumers travel fair will be held at Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

This will be the first time the travel fair is being held in Selangor, following other successful ones in Kuala Lumpur.

More than 40 authorised travel agencies, state tourism organisations and other tourism companies will be setting up booths at the three-day travel fair from July 27.

“We will promote various tourism attractions in Selangor and other states in Malaysia,” he said in a press conference at MAEPS in Serdang.

He said the first edition of the fair would feature 150 booths at MAEPS Hall D2 with 8,000sq m exhibition space.

“So far, 70% of the booths have been taken up,” he said, adding that they received encouraging enquiries on the fair.

In addition, he said, several airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Firefly, Air France, Turkish Airlines and Thai Airways have been roped in to offer interesting travel packages to various destinations.

There will also be discounted offers on hotels to encourage travellers to plan their year-end holidays.

Syed Abdul Rahman added that the travel fair would include a food festival as well as travel and lifestyle activities in a carnival-like atmosphere.

“There will be 50 food trucks offering dishes from Kedah, Melaka and Johor, making it one of the interesting activities at the carnival,” he said, adding that the fair was expected to attract up to 70,000 visitors.

There will also be the Buyers Contest, where winners stand to win flight tickets, free hotel stays and holiday packages abroad.

Tourism Selangor promotion and industry development manager Khuzaimah Jamaluddin said they would support the fair by bringing in several tourism products from the state.

“For the domestic market, there are many interesting places in Selangor that can attract tourists such as the Sky Mirror in Kuala Selangor. There are only two Sky Mirrors in the world; one in Bolivia and the other in Malaysia,” she said.

Khuzaimah said they would also promote Sekinchan, popular for fishing activities, homestays and cycling in padi fields.

“We will also present handicrafts, customs, cultural performances and interactive activities of the Mah Meri indigenous people from Pulau Carey in Kuala Langat,” she said.

Tourism Malaysia (central region) director Mohd Akbal Setia said they would highlight unique tourism packages to attract the domestic and foreign tourists.

“In 2016, 66 million domestic tourists contributed RM48bil income for the country. We are hoping to attract 36 million foreigners to visit the country in 2020, which is estimated to contribute RM168bil to the country,” he said.

There will be trams to ferry visitors from their parking areas and shuttle services at ERL Putrajaya and Komuter station in Serdang for visitors to get to the fair.

The MATTA fair will be open from 10am to 10pm. Admission is free.

For details, visit the MATTA Fair official Facebook account Matta Selangor and official Instagram @matta_selangor

-thestar online.