South Koreans get warm welcome in Senai

Annyeonghaseyo: South Korean children thrilled with the reception at the Senai airport.

SENAI: About 160 South Korean tourists received a warm welcome at the Senai International Airport as they were among the first international visitors to enter the state after Visit Johor 2020 kicked off.

A cultural performance greeted them as they were presented with goodie bags when they walked out from the arrival hall.

Nurse Dainkim, 26, who came with her mother, cousin and aunt for a four-day trip, said she looked forward to exploring Johor and Malaysia as she had heard so much about it from her friends.

“I have been planning to travel to Malaysia for quite some time but the timing was never right due to work commitments. “I am very happy to be here” she said. Among the places in her “must go” list are Legoland and the Bukit Serene palace in Johor Baru.

Another tourist was businessman Lee Seung-won, 43. “This is my fourth time to Johor. This time, I will be spending about one month here so that I can visit other districts.

“My last few visits were too short to travel far from Johor Baru city” he said, adding that he would be visiting Muar, Batu Pahat as well as Mersing with his friends.

Welcoming the visitors were Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal, state Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung, Senai assemblyman Tee Boon Tsong and Senai International Airport chief executive officer Md Derick Basir.

Liow said the state received 156,634 visitors as of November 2019. “In 2018, we received 167,440 tourists from South Korea.

“The frequency of Johor Baru-Incheon flights has also been increased from seven a week to 14” she said, adding that these additional flights would continue until March in view of the winter season there.

Apart from the airport here, visitors arriving at 12 other entry points of the state were also given a warm welcome on the first day of 2020.

-thestar online.

Visit Johor 2020 Harbour Celebration @ Marina Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri, Johor ( 31 December 2019 )

Tourism Johor bersama UEM Sunrise bakal membawakan anda VISIT JOHOR 2020 HARBOUR CELEBRATION yang akan disempurnakan oleh YAB Menteri Besar Johor.

Acara turut dimeriahkan dengan penampilan artis, persembahan kebudayaan & parkour, maskot, 'bus mapping projection', bunga api dan banyak lagi!

Lebih menarik anda berpeluang memenangi baucar pelancongan & cenderamata eksklusif! Nantikan kemeriahannya! Masuk adalah percuma.

Tarikh: 31 Disember 2019
Tempat: Marina Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri, Johor

Johor Tourism & UEM Sunrise will bring you an exciting ceremony Visit Johor 2020 Harbour Celebration officiate by Chief Minister of Johor at Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri, Johor!

Let’s get into 2020 vibes with fun and interesting activities, music & local artist,cultural & parkour performances,fireworks & much more await you. Stay tuned for the celebration coming to you this 31 December! Let's get LIT! Admission is FREE!

Date: 31 December 2019
Venue: Marina Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri, Johor

-Tourism Johor.

Johor to draw more local tourists

Liow (middle) presenting a goodie bag to Firefly Airlines passengers on its inaugural flight from Kota Baru to Johor Baru at Senai International Airport. Looking on is Md Derick (left).

KULAI: Johor is eyeing more domestic tourists to visit the state in conjunction with Visit Johor Year 2020 (VJY2020) programme.

State tourism, women development, family and community committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said VJY2020 was not only focusing on attracting foreign tourists but domestic visitors as well.

“Over the last three years, there is a healthy growth in domestic tourists visiting Johor.

“In 2016, the state recorded 2.6 million domestic visitors while in 2017, the number jumped to 2.63 million. Last year, we received about 2.92 million and we are hoping the figure continues to rise for 2019 and beyond, ” she said after welcoming Firefly Airlines passengers from its inaugural Kota Baru-Johor Baru flight at Senai International Airport here.

She commended Firefly for introducing the new route, with Senai International Airport now having five airlines operating 12 domestic and seven international routes.

“I hope more airlines will support the state tourism sector by having more routes to Johor, ” she said.

Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (SATSSB) chief executive officer Md Derick Basir said many airline companies had shown interest to have international flights from the airport.

“We are in discussions with several airline companies to introduce flights from Senai International Airport to international destinations such as Shenzhen in China, Medan in Indonesia and a city in Japan.

Meanwhile, Firefly chief executive officer Phillip See said the airline would fly between Kota Baru and Johor Baru three times a week.

“We are very excited with our new route, which connects both Johor Baru and Kota Baru.

“Both cities are strategic as Kota Baru is located as an entry point to southern Thailand while Johor Baru is fast growing to become a major area for business and leisure as well as an entry point to Singapore, ” he said.

See added that Firefly would be able to help the state government in getting more domestic tourists to come here with the their new route service.

-thestar online.

Desaru Coast dives into lifestyle events market to boost visitorship

Desaru Coast in Johor, Malaysia, is being groomed as a lifestyle and events destination to attract more visitors; Desaru Coast Adventures Park pictured

Desaru Development Holdings One, the master developer of Desaru Coast, is grooming the young integrated destination in southern Malaysia to host events and festivals to attract visitorship and more eyeballs at a swifter pace.

While Desaru Coast is home to five-star international hotel brands, a conference centre, a water park, two championship golf courses, a retail village and a 17km pristine beachfront, it remains relatively unknown to overseas travellers, partly due to it being only a three-month-old development.

To promote the destination, Desaru Development Holdings One is working with partners to curate its own signature events, including the Desaru Coast Gourmet Series, which will feature an international food festival in 2020.

CEO Roslina Arbak revealed that plans are also underway for a series of concerts and music festivals featuring local and regional acts next year.

These events will join the Ombak Festival which debuted in July 2019 to celebrate local arts and culture. Coinciding with the launch of Desaru Coast, the Ombak Festival attracted 16,000 visitors, mainly locals. More activities will be presented in the second edition next year to attract a larger number of regional visitors.

Arbak added: “Our events strategy in future includes working with independent partners to host international events. This follows our recent success in welcoming the inaugural Desaru International Bike Week 2019. Held last month, the four-day event attracted more than 50,000 bikers over four days.”

The developer is committed to hosting the Ironman Multisport Festival Desaru Coast for the next three years, with the first edition commencing on April 17-19, 2020.

It is also leveraging the government’s national initiative, Visit Malaysia 2020, as well as the Johor state government’s Visit Johor 2020 campaign, to develop joint marketing activities to raise awareness of Desaru Coast, positioning it as a premium tourist destination.

-TTG Asia.

https://desarucoast.com

Gearing up to draw tourists

Liow (second from left) with Zulkifly (second from right) at the Tourism Malaysia Media Night

at R&F Sales Gallery.

JOHOR BARU: Tourism Malaysia is doubling up local and international promotion as part of its efforts to achieve Visit Malaysia 2020’s (VM2020) target of 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil in tourism receipts.

Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general (planning) Zulkifly Md Said said some of the initiatives were rolled out earlier this year, such as optimising the use of information and communication technology and engaging in smart partnerships with industry players.

“Optimising information and communication technology is an engaging approach in promotion, publicity and advertising efforts while social media is one of the best platforms for promoting Malaysia.

“We have initiated various smart partnerships with our industry players aside from leveraging on the presence of international hotel brands who continue to place their trust by setting up their hotels in Malaysia, ” he said in his speech at the Tourism Malaysia Media Night at R&F Sales Gallery.

Tourism Malaysia also partnered with hotels such as Amari Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotel, One & Only Resorts and Anantara Hotels & Resorts.

Zulkifly also pointed out that as of June 20, Tourism Malaysia has 3.3 million Facebook followers, 76,684 Instagram followers, 422,632 Twitter followers and 45.7 million views on YouTube.

He added that in 2018, it managed to record 25.8 million international tourist arrivals with tourist receipts amounting to RM84.1bil.

“As a comparison, Malaysia received a total of 25.9 million international tourists in 2017, with RM82.2bil in tourism receipts.

“As for 2019, in this first six months, Malaysia recorded a positive tourist arrival growth of 6.8%, registering a total of 13,354,575 tourist arrivals compared to 12,730,368 in the same period last year, ” he added.

Zulkifly said this was the result of strategic initiatives and other promotional efforts.

Meanwhile, Johor tourism, women, family and community development chairman Liow Cai Tung said the state government was gearing up and creating lots of interesting upcoming events and packages for next year’s Visit Johor 2020.

“We are trying to pump up the online content on Johor’s tourism products and tourism sector to create an even stronger online presence.

“We want more information on Johor’s attractions to be available online through search portals and social media channels, ” she said.

Liow added that it was the state government’s aim to create more content to eliminate the frustration faced by travellers who have heard of Johor but could not find much information on the state.

“The media, whether mainstream or social platforms, play an important role as partners of the tourism industry to spread awareness and publicity on tourism products and packages to the public, ” she added.

-thestar online.

Roaring celebration of Johor tourism

(From left) Tourism Johor director Zihan Ismail, Liow, Tan and MATTA chief executive officer Phua Tai Neng with Joh the mascot, after the Visit Johor 2020 press conference.

JOHOR has been announced as “Malaysia’s Favourite Destination” by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) for the upcoming MATTA Fair.

Johor was presented as Malaysia’s Favourite Destination in the March 2016 MATTA Fair.

This was made even more significant by the fact that next year will be Visit Johor Year 2020.

This MATTA Fair, Tourism Johor will be introducing the Visit Johor Year 2020 logo along with its mascot, Joh, which is based on the Harimau Malaya and signifies Johoreans’ bravery and spirit of freedom.

Johor tourism, women, family and community development chairman Liow Cai Tung said, “The involvement of Tourism Johor is very meaningful. This time, we are coming in as the Johor Pavilion, where its concept based on the Bangunan Dato’ Jaffar Muhamad in Kota Iskandar.

“We aim to increase arrivals in Johor to 8.4 million travellers staying for at least one night, ” he said.

The Johor Pavilion will have 16 booths in Hall 5 featuring visuals depicting the state’s attractions.

Liow added, “We have 10 districts in Johor and each has its own uniqueness.”

Besides featuring the 10 districts, visitors can also look forward to a variety of 20 destinations and 20 events at the Johor Pavilion.

Twenty-two product owners from the state taking part in the fair will include eco- tourism operators, hotels and theme parks.

One of them is the Johor National Park.

“I hope more domestic tourists will visit the national park and I welcome more Malaysians to visit Johor, ” Liow said.

Yayasan Warisan Johor will also be showcasing Johor’s culture and traditions.

Festivals in each district will be promoted to highlight their uniqueness in food, culture and destinations.

Johor has also been ranked among the top two of the “Most Visited States” in the country by Tourism Malaysia with a record of 7.8 million arrivals in 2018.

MATTA Fair’s collaboration with Tourism Johor is slated to increase the state’s brand visibility and capture holidaymakers’ interest at the fair.

Through promotions at the fair, visitor arrivals to Johor are poised to reach its target of 8.4 million in 2020.

MATTA president, Datuk Tan Kok Liang said, “Based on the promotions I have seen, I am pleased to see places beyond the usual favourites and not so well-known cultural places being promoted.”

MATTA and Tourism Johor have been proactive in attracting more visitors to the state.

Efforts have included a collaboration with the MATTA Johor Chapter in putting together travel and tour packages based on tourism segments to meet the expectations of domestic and foreign tourists for sustainable and consistent domestic and inbound tourism growth.

MATTA Fair September 2019 will open from 10am to 9pm daily.

Admission is RM4 per person and free for children below 12.

For further details, go to Johor Tourism’s Facebook page.

-thestar online.

Travel fair a boost for Visit Johor 2020

Tan (second from right) presenting a token of appreciation to Solehuddin during Johor MATTA Travel Fair in Johor Baru.

JOHOR BARU: The Visit Johor 2020 programme is set to receive a major boost as it will be the main focus at the upcoming Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Travel Fair next month.

MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said they would be doing more promotions and marketing to introduce the various attractions the state has to offer to local travellers during the three-day fair at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 6 to 8.

“We will do the promotions in a big way and through social media. We want to invite Johor tourism industry players to work with us and create more interesting packages, ” he said after witnessing the opening ceremony of Johor MATTA Travel Fair.

Also present was Tourism Malaysia southern region director Solehuddin Ahmad who represented state tourism, women development, family and community committee chairman Liow Cai Tung.

Johor MATTA Travel Fair is expected to attract 13, 000 visitors with a turnover sale of RM10mil.

-thestar online.

Launch of Visit Johor 2020 logo and mascot next month

Liow (second from right) visiting one of the booths at the Malaysia International Travel Mart (MITM) Travel Fair 2019 while Ang (right) looks on.

JOHOR BARU: The state government is expected to unveil its logo and mascot design for Visit Johor 2020 next month.

State tourism, women, family and community development committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the logo and mascot were picked from a competition, which received good public response.

“In April this year, Tourism Johor conducted a logo design, mascot design and photography competition, which attracted about 100 entries from all over Malaysia.

“We will choose the logo and designs from the entries and unveil it during the soft launch of Visit Johor 2020 in August,” she said, adding that winners of the competition would also be announced during the soft launch.

She added that some 20 festivals at 20 destinations in Johor would also be unveiled during the launch in an effort to promote Visit Johor 2020.

Liow also said that the state government had allocated some RM3.67mil to carry out promotional efforts in 2019.

“Among the continuous programmes and activities carried 

out via Tourism Johor are engagement and briefing sessions for front liners and tourism players, heritage tour presentations, as well as tourism missions to international travel fairs such as the Asian Tourism Forum in Vietnam and World Travel Mart in London,” she said.

On the event, Liow hopes that the travel fair here would allow the public to know more about attractive travel packages made available for them.

MCTA Johor Chapter chairman Kelvin Ang said that there were some 160 booths and 25 exhibitors at the travel fair here.

“We hope that the public can benefit from the travel fair here and get their hands on attractive tour packages for their next holidays.

“Apart from attractive tour packages, visitors can also look out for clothes, food and other interesting items from all over the world during the fair,” he said.

-thestar online.

http://tourism.johor.my

Johor targets 8.4 million tourists for 2020

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The state government is targeting 8.4 million tourists to come here next year in conjunction with Visit Johor Year 2020.

State tourism, women development, family and community committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said Johor recorded a healthy 5% increase in tourists over the past two years.

“In 2017, the number of tourists was 7.4 million and in 2018, Tourism Johor targetted 7.7 million tourists; for 2019 it is 8 million tourists and next year, our target is 8.4 million tourists,” she added.

The state defines tourists as those who stay at least one night in Johor.

Liow said this in her reply to Chen Kah Eng (PH-Stulang), Ee Chin Li (PH-Tangkak), Dr Chong Fat Full (PH-Pemanis), and Cheo Yee How (PH-Perling) at the Johor state assembly yesterday.

Besides this, Tourism Johor was also doubling its effort to attract more visitors (daytrippers and those passing through the state).

Liow pointed out that last year, 15.8 million people visited Johor and this year, Tourism Johor has set a target of 16.6 million visitors, with the figure set to increase to 17.4 million in 2020.

She said there were several initiatives and action plans set up to promote Visit Johor Year 2020 and position the state as the ideal tourist destination.

“There will be roadshows in every district in Johor as well as selected states such as Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka, the Klang Valley and several Asean countries.

“We will also be promoting the state through various media platforms to create awareness about Visit Johor Year 2020,” she said.

Liow added that the state government would also be organising national and international events such as Sukma 2020, e-sport tournaments, World Kite Festival, Chingay parade and many others.

She said the state tourism marketing strategic plan 2016-2020 focuses on primary and secondary countries.

“Among the primary countries are Asean, China, India and Australia while secondary are from European and other countries,” she added.

-thestar online.
http://tourism.johor.my/

Sea Life Malaysia: unique, new attraction to draw tourists

ISKANDAR PUTERI, June 29 (Bernama) -- Legoland Malaysia Resort is confident that the opening of Sea Life Malaysia will be a new attraction here, contributing to tourist arrivals for Visit Malaysia Year and Visit Johor Year in 2020.

Its Sales and Marketing director, Thila Munusamy said that this is because the interactive aquarium which features an interesting learning concept has its own uniqueness.

“We are confident that Sea Life and Legoland Resort will be able to become a tourism icon and contribute to the tourism target of Visit Johor Year and Visit Malaysia Year 2020.

“Not only foreign tourists like Southeast Asia but also domestic,” she told reporters after the launch of Sea Life Malaysia at Legoland Malaysia Resort here, on Friday.

Also present was Johor Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung.

According to him, Sea Life Malaysia, which is in a two-story building with an area of 2,123 square metres, has 25 tanks with 13,000 sea creatures from 120 species and 11 different habitat zones.

Among the interesting sea life brought from the various countries are sea horses, Zebra Sharks, Black Tip Reef Sharks and jellyfish.

Sea Life Malaysia is also different and unique with rainforest elements.

-bernama.
https://www.legoland.com.my/sealife/sealife/

Largest jade carving expected to become Johor's tourism attraction

JOHOR BAHRU, June 15 (Bernama) -- The jade carving at the Hsing Ma Si (Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Learning Centre), recognised as Malaysia’s largest jade carving by the Malaysia Book of Record (MBOR) today, is expected to become latest tourism attraction in Johor.

State Tourism, Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the handmade jade carving, based on Buddhist teachings, was unique and could be promoted as one of the cultural tourism products in the state.

She said current travel trends worldwide were not limited according to one’s religion and culture as travellers were also interested in travelling to places where they could learn other cultures and religions.

“I believe this MBOR certification of the jade carving will turn Hsing Ma Si as one of the significant tourist locations here,” she told reporters today.

The jade carving called ‘Map of Humanistic Buddhism’ measuring 33.21 metres in length and 9.41 metres in height, took three years to produce and involved 50 sculptors.

-bernama.

Showcasing the wonders of Endau-Rompin park

The entrance to Endau-Rompin National Park.

JOHOR BARU: With just six months to go before Visit Johor Year 2020, Tourism Johor is gearing up to promote some of its best-known attractions.

Tourism Johor director Zihan Ismail said that one of the locations being highlighted for next year is Endau-Rompin National Park, which is under the administration of the Johor National Parks.

“Endau-Rompin Johor National Park was established in 1993 with 48,905 ha of land, making it the largest protected area in the southern peninsula of Malaysia.

“It is also the oldest rainforest area in northeastern Johor and contains treasured biodiversity and habitat that is very important, including the Malayan tiger and tapir, as well as Asian elephants,” she said when contacted.

She added that there are two entry points to the park on the Johor side, one through Peta which is located along the eastern border of the Mersing area, and the other at Kampung Selai at the southwest border of Segamat.

Zihan added that although only certain areas of the park are open to visitors, they still require special permits from the Wildlife Department to visit, so as to safeguard its ecological treasures.

“The parks have two natural food sources for tigers, namely the sambar deer and barking deer. It’s also the only known population for bearded pig – a species of wild boar that is less aggressive compared with the Eurasian wild pig.

“The majority of the monkeys in the park are the long-tailed macaques dan pig-tailed macaques and two species of langur, namely dusky langur and banded langur,” she added.

Zihan said the park was also home for endangered animals such as the Sunda pangolin, white-handed gibbon and Sunda slow loris.

“The parks had been recognised as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife International in 2003 where it has at least 10 endangered bird species, including the helmeted hornbill and straw-headed bulbul,” she added.

Endau-Rompin National Park, Malaysia’s second largest national park after Taman Negara, is a lowland dipterocarp rainforest with an abundance of endemic plants and vibrant wildlife.

The park is so large that it actually straddles two states, Johor and Pahang, with approximately 26km of trails.

It is also home to the Malayan sun bear, 230 species of birds, Sumatran rhinoceros, 43 species of fishes, 26 species of frogs, 14 species of snakes, and many more.

For more information, head to Endau-Rompin National Parks office at Bekok (Selai) or at Kahang (Peta) or call 013-7440952 (Selai office) and 013-744 0951 (Peta office).

Johor National Parks also administers the Sultan Iskandar Marine Park, Pulau Kukup, Tanjung Piai National Park, and Gunung Ledang.

-thestar online.
http://tourism.johor.my/

More travellers using Senai International Airport

Senai International Airport recorded 1.01 million passengers

in the first quarter of 2019.— Filepic

SENAI:Senai Airport Terminal Services Sdn Bhd (SATSSB) is expecting some 3.76 million air travellers to pass through Senai International Airport by the end of the year.

Its chief executive officer Md Derick Basir said based on statistics recorded over the last six years, the number of travellers using the airport had increased significantly.

He said in 2013, some 1.3 million passengers were recorded and that the figure went up to 2.3 million in 2014, 2.5 million (2015), 2.8 million (2016), 3.1 million (2017) and 3.5 million in 2018.

“We are optimistic about surpassing the 3.76 million target by the year-end and if everything goes well, we could even hit the four million mark,’’ Md Derick said.

He said the airport recorded the average daily air passengers of 11,640 people or 1.01 million passengers in the first quarter of 2019.

He said in the pipeline were plans for expansion of the terminal’s new domestic arrival hall and the new waiting area at the departure hall costing between RM13mil and RM15mil.

He said work on the project would start in the fourth-quarter of the year and among the new features at the new domestic arrival hall were baggage handling system, retail lots, office spaces and covered walkway.

Md Derick said the new waiting area at the departure hall, which could cater to 180 passengers at a time, would include two new gates, toilets and new ramp walkway.

He said Senai Airport would also be connected to Shanghai, China, its newest international route in the fourth quarter of the year.

“Air connectivity is important if Johor wants to attract more domestic and foreign tourists to visit the state and have repeat visitors,’’ said Md Derick.

Senai International Airport started its operation in 1974 and is the only privately managed civilian airport in the country. SATSSB is a member of MMC Group.

Prior to the acquisition in 2003, the airport was handling only approximately 800,000 passengers.

On Visit Johor Year 2020 (VJY2020), he said Senai Airport would be working closely with the state government and Tourism Johor to promote it as a tourist destination.

“We will organise a joint promotion event called ‘Airport Festival’ as a teaser to VJY2020,’’ he said, adding that there would also be familiarisation and marketing trips for airlines and social media influencers to introduce attractions and tourism products in Johor.

-thestar online.

20 tourist destinations, 20 international events to enliven Visit Johor Year 2020

BATU PAHAT, June 2 (Bernama) -- Johor Tourism will introduce 20 chosen destinations, each with its respective travel products next year in an effort to attract more tourists to the state in conjunction with Visit Johor Year 2020.

State Tourism director Johor Zihan Ismail said apart from that, 20 domestic and international events will be organised, which will feature the theme ‘2020’.

“Next year we plan to introduce 20 destinations with unique tourism products and 20 international and domestic programmes or events in conjunction with Visit Johor Year 2020,” she told Bernama recently.

All of which will be announced during the pre-launch of the Visit Johor Year 2020 logo and mascot, which is scheduled for early July.

According to Zihan, it is now in the process of detailing the 20 selected destinations with the products in all 10 districts in the state.

“We’ll see which ones have the potential to be promoted in conjunction with the Visit Johor Year 2020. We have a lot of products in Johor and to select 20 is indeed a challenge for Johor Tourism,” she said, adding that local officials also helped in the selection.

In regard to the 20 events or programmes, Zihan said some of them were listed in the state’s tourism calendar that covers sports, education and various other events.

“We also plan to expand the size of existing events as well as introduce new events.

“Johor is also famous for its food range. We have a lot of excellent Johor heritage food so there will be an event to introduce our heritage food,” she said.

Next year, Johor will be the focus not only for Visit Johor Year 2020 but will also be hosting the Malaysia Games (Sukma). Along with that, the state government has set a target of 17.4 million tourist arrivals for next year.

Last year, 15.84 million tourists visited the state and this year, the state government is targeting 16.6 million tourists.

-bernama.

Finding ways to encourage tourists to visit historical places

JOHOR BAHRU, June 2 (Bernama) -- The Johor State Government will try to find ways to attract more foreign tourists to historical places like the state’s museum.

State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar who made the assurance said the approach was taken because such places are less exposed to tourists.

“… while overseas, people like to visit historical places but in Malaysia especially in Johor, it’s different.

“Tour guides are more likely to take tourists to shopping malls and theme parks despite knowing Johor is steeped in history and has a lot of historical places,” he said in an interview here recently.

“Therefore, there is need for more organised arrangements between the State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee and the State Tourism, Women Development, Family and Community Committee, whose chairman is Liow Cai Tung so that tourists are encouraged to visit these historical sites too.

“This is in line with the commitment of both parties to promote next year as ‘Visit Johor Year’.

“In doing this, we will also find ways to ensure economic gains in these tourism activities which can be enjoyed by the whole community.

“This is because in Yogyakarta (Indonesia) for example, I can see the economic spin-off from such attractions (visiting historic places) directed to the people around which allows them to sell clothings, become tour guides and so on. This is very different from the situation in Malaysia especially Johor,” he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the ‘Visit Johor Year’, Mohd Khuzzan said various programmes have been organised to highlight the heritage and culture of the state including Johor Heritage Food Festival, Music and Folk Dance Festival.

-bernama.
http://tourism.johor.my/

Competition to draw tourists... Visit Johor 2020

Zihan (fourth from right) showing the poster with details on the logo-making,

mascot-making and photography competition for Visit Johor 2020.

JOHOR BARU: The state government, through Tourism Johor, is organising logo-making, mascot-making and photography competition in conjunction with Visit Johor 2020.

Tourism Johor director Zihan Ismail said the aim of the competition was to involve all in the state and create public awareness on its tourism plans.

“The competition is open to all Malaysians aged 18 and above and we hope it will unearth local talents, especially from the graphic design and photography fields.

“All three competitions must have elements of Johor to attract tourists, in line with our Visit Johor 2020 campaign,” she said in a statement. Zihan said all creations must be original.

“The closing date for the competition is April 15 and entries must reach us by noon,” she said, adding that Tourism Johor is providing cash prize for the winner.

Consolation prizes and participation certificates will also be given out as a token of appreciation to all the participants.

The terms and conditions, and contest participation forms can be downloaded from Tourism Johor Facebook.

-thestar online.

(Pertandingan Mereka Cipta Logo)
https://drive.google.com/open…

(Pertandingan Mereka Cipta Maskot)
https://drive.google.com/open…

(Pertandingan Fotografi)
https://drive.google.com/open…