Langkawi Targets 200,000 Foreign Tourist Via Singapore This Year

LANGKAWI, May 10 (Bernama) -- Tourism operators in Langkawi are targeting to draw 200,000 Singaporeans and visitors to Singapore to duty-free, mystical Langkawi island this year. Pishol Ishak, chairman of the Kedah branch of Matta (Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents), said towards this end, Matta and the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) together with 15 travel agents in Langkawi would be holding a tourism promotion drive in Singapore from May 13 to 15. He said according to statistcis from Lada's tourism unit, over 40,000 Singaporeans and other foreign tourists visisted Langkawi in 2009. Pishol said as an international flight hub, Singapore was a prime market for tourists from the island republic as well as its foreign visitors. He said currently, Singappre's Silk Air, Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia had direct flights between Langkawi and Singapore. Meanwhile, Lada is participating in a Tourism Malaysia roadshow in Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar which began on May 4 and will end tomorrow. More than 89,000 tourists from the Middle East visited Langkawi last year.