State hopes to top five million visitors arrival

NUSAJAYA: The state government is looking at getting foreign airlines to have more chartered flights into the state in an effort to boost tourist arrivals to above the five million mark.

Tourism, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs committee chairman Datuk Hoo Seong Chang said the state tourism department was in talks with airlines from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and South Korea. “We are also hoping to get Air Asia Indonesia to also operate from Senai Airport,” he said during his winding up speech. Hoo added that although tourist arrivals were on an uptrend with 4.7 million tourist arrivals into the state within the first three months of this year, the state hoped to achieve more than 5 million.

Hoo: Although tourist arrivals were on an uptrend with 4.7 million tourist arrivals into the state within the first three months of this year, the state hoped to achieve more than 5 million.

“At the moment, we are ranked forth in the country with Kula Lumpur being ranked first, Pahang (second), Penang (third) and Johor (forth).

“If we top more than 5mil in tourist arrivals, then we will be able to move up a notch,” he said, adding that with the opening of Legoland Malaysia and Tanjung Puteri Indoor Entertainment Park.

Hoo added that the state government had also formulated a six-pronged strategy to increase tourist arrivals into the state.

They include to have national and international tourism events, familiarisation trips, advertisements in local magazines and major newspapers overseas, increasing the quality of the people in the industry, increasing sales missions and engaging with smart partnerships with other players.

Hoo added that out of the 26 tourism products that were being developed in the state under the 10th Malaysia Plan, 11 have been completed with another 15 still under the planning stage. He also explained that presently out of the 16mil visitors and tourists that enter the state annually, 20% were tourists and another 20% comprised those on transit to other places while the remaining 60% were day trippers to the state mainly from Singapore.

“All this statics were obtained from the immigration department,” he added, adding that the state tourism department also planned to utilise the internet to promote tourism products in the state. He added that their website has been well received with 175,915 visitors last year compared with 150,000 in 2009. He added that the department now planned to have a webpage for each district, to have an online travel mart, to have videos promoting its tourism products, having an E-Brochure and having internet kiosks.

-thestar online.