Penang To Host First Hot Air Balloon Festival In The State

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- After the International Hot Air Balloon Festival in Putrajaya, Penang, will host the Penang Hot Air Balloon Festival on Feb 21 and 22.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the first-ever programme in Penang, would be held at Padang Polo here and showcase 15 hot air balloons in various shapes such as Trump, Darth Vader and Humpty Dumpty.

"We are planning to make this programme an annual event which can attract more tourists to the state. I hope there can be more such programmes which will increase the number of tourists to Penang.

"The number of tourists coming here dropped a little in December compared with last year. Not only Penang, but other states also experienced the same situation. So, I hope this programme will help increase the number of tourists coming to this state," he said in a press conference here today.

He added that although the number of tourist arrivals to the state had dropped, there was an increase in tourists who stayed at hotels here with 3.1 million from January to June last year, compared with 2.4 million during the same period in 2013.

Lim said the cooperation of various parties was needed to organise interesting programmes and to increase the number of tourists to Penang.

Meanwhile, Penang Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director, Haryanty Abu Bakar who was also present at the press conference said efforts would be focused on bringing in more tourists from neighbouring countries and promoting Malaysia through similar programmes.

Besides the Penang Hot Air Balloon Festival, there would also be a charity run held on Feb 21 from Padang Polo to Taman Belia here.

There would also be family activities such as games, creative workshop, archery events, photography competitions, Para motor and remote control airplane/helicopter shows during the two days.
-bernama.