Melaka, one of the two heritage cities in Malaysia to be given the nod by UNESCO, was the centre of trade between East and West in the 1400-s, and was known as the Venice of the East. It is well worth a visit with its Portuguese, Dutch, English and Malaysian influences.

Malacca is known for many of its historical landmarks like the famous St Paul's Hill

According to Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, the recognition given to Melaka also proved that the government’s efforts in adding value and preserving old heritage had gained world attention.

Now, if only they could only make sure the monorail does not keep breaking down.

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The listing of Melaka at 28th position, out of the 45 destinations in the world which should be visited this year, by The New York Times newspaper is expected to attract more than 12 million tourists to the state this year.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the recognition given to Melaka also proved that the government’s efforts in adding value and preserving old heritage had gained world attention.

“We do not expect to be given such a recognition, which is the second, because Melaka has been listed on lonelyplanet.com as one of the 10 destinations which should be visited in 2007,” he told reporters after the monthly assembly of the state administration here.

He said the recognition, made through an article titled “The 45 Places to Go in 2012″, published last Friday, would further spur the Melaka government to boost the state tourism industry.

Last year, Melaka attracted about 11 million visitors, he added.

Mohd Ali said efforts would continue to be made by the state government to attract more visitors, including to add value to all old buildings and diversify tourism products.

Source: Bernama

Is this the main reason behind Sabah's popularity among the tourists?

He feels that everyone has a role to play in promoting Sabah as a holiday destination and the efforts should start with Kota Kinabalu as the gateway to the state. Kota Kinabalu has long been a star attraction for Sabah and the Minister does have a point as he understands that it is maintenance that matters most, not churning out new tourism products.

It is interesting to note that in local politics, Sabah is considered on the periphery but where tourism is concerned, Sabah is king!

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Tourist arrivals in Sabah went up 15 per cent between January-September this year, compared to the same period in 2010.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said 1,909,430 tourists were recorded compared to 1,660,360 last year, which excluded the arrival of foreign workers.

He hoped Sabah would be able to achieve the 2.63 million target by year-end.

Last year, Sabah received 2,504,669 guests, he said at the Kota Kinabalu City Tourism Networking High Tea, organised by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall here today.

Masidi said the chambers’ of commerce in Sabah could play a role in establishing tourism networking in order to bring investors to the state.

“Everyone has a role to play in promoting Sabah as a holiday destination. It should start with Kota Kinabalu as the gateway to the state,” he added.

Source: Bernama

Johor would like to welcome more tourists from China in the near future

He was quoted as saying that many Chinese nationals were not aware about Johor and all its tourism products but based on the good response from tour agents in China, he was sure they were coming up with travel packages to Malaysia and Singapore.

Would you like to visit Legoland in Johor?

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The state tourism department is trying to lure regional airlines from China to fly tourists to the state via chartered flights.

State Tourism and Domestic Trade committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said Shenzhen Airlines had indicated its interest to conduct chartered flights to Johor.

“I will talk to Senai Airport so that they continue giving special rates to such airlines in an effort to attract more tourists to the state.

“In fact, Senai already provides incentives such as free landing and parking for aircraft,” he told The Star after a recent trip to promote Johor at the 8th China-Asean Expo in Nanning.

Hoo added that many Chinese nationals were not aware about Johor and all its tourism products.

“Based on the good response from tour agents in China, I am sure they are now coming up with travel packages to Malaysia and Singapore,” he said.

Hoo said about 20% out of the 1.1 million Chinese visitors who visited the country annually travelled to Johor.

He added that the number of tourist arrivals had increased by more than 480,000 for the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year.

He said tremendous growth was expected as new tourism products including Legoland Malaysia and Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios were expected to be opened next year and in 2013.

Hoo also thanked Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman for a bigger budget for the department to carry out promotional activities overseas.

Souce: The Star

Photo (c) Bruce Tuten

Over 2.7 million tourists from Indonesia are expected to visit Malaysia in 2011 compared to 2.5 million in 2010

Tourism Malaysia director in Medan, Suhaimi Abu Hasan Ashaari was confident that although the global economy has yet to recover, Tourism Malaysia was confident they would be able to achieve the target as cultural similarities and Sumatra’s good economic growth would continue to spur the interest of Indonesian tourists to come to Malaysia.

So, if Indonesians really hate Malaysia so much, why are they still visiting us?

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Over 2.7 million tourists from Indonesia are expected to visit Malaysia this year compared to 2.5 million last year, Tourism Malaysia director in Medan, Suhaimi Abu Hasan Ashaari said.

Suhaimi Abu Hasan who is also the Malaysian tourism counsellor for Sumatra said 1.2 million Indonesians had visited Malaysia up to July this year.

“Although the global economy has yet to recover, we are confident that we can achieve the target during the remaining months owing to the promotional programmes we are carrying out here,” he told Bernama.

Among the programmes are the Malaysia Year-end Holiday from Nov 7-13 at the Medan Fair Plaza involving eight major Indonesian tour agents and four airline operators — AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Srivijaya Air and Wings Air.

The programme showcases tour packages as well as attractions in Malaysia.

“Most Indonesian tourists prefer to visit major cities like Kuala Lumpur and Penang due to the availability of direct flights and shopping facilities,” he said.

Tourism Malaysia in Indonesia, especially in the Sumatra sector, was also actively promoting other destinations in Malaysia.

The promotion focuses on Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sabah this year while Perak, Langkawi, Sarawak, Melaka and Johor will be the target next year.

He was confident that cultural similarities and Sumatra’s good economic growth would continue to spur the interest of Indonesian tourists to come to Malaysia.

Source: Bernama

Domestic tourism is as important as foreign visitors

The Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC), a Bangkok-based research firm, has found that the vast floods affecting dozens of provinces in the northern, northeastern and central regions, including Bangkok, are likely to cause a loss of some 35 billion baht to domestic tourism revenues this year.

This just drives home the fact that the best deals should not only be for foreign arrivals, but also for locals. Face it, when the world was battling the SARS and H1N1 viruses, the travel industry, although quite badly hit, managed to survive, thanks to domestic tourism.

Would you prefer to visit locals sights or is international travel more your thing?

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The Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC) said on Thursday that Thailand’s vast floods since late July, affecting dozens of provinces in the northern, northeastern and central regions, including Bangkok, are likely to cause a loss of some 35 billion baht to domestic tourism revenues this year, reports Thai News Agency (TNA).

According to the Bangkok-based research firm, the number of Thai people visiting tourist attractions in the flood-stricken provinces has considerably dropped over the past couple of months, pulling down as well tourism-related revenues in the areas.

The leading private think tank, therefore, assessed that the domestic tourism market among Thai people alone would obviously slow down in the second half of this year, resulting in an overall drop in both the number of Thai tourists and tourism-related revenues by about 8.7 million and 35 billion baht respectively this year. (RM1=9.8baht)

The KRC said whether the domestic tourism market among Thai people could revitalise by the second quarter of 2012, when there will be long traditional Songkran and school holidays, depends on how quickly local tourist attractions in the flood-hit areas would be rehabilitated.

Source: Bernama

Malaysia offers a myriad of experiences to visitors all over the world

In a news article by Bernama, Mr. Hosch described Malaysia as a “fascinating tourism destination” that possesses very good infrastructure along with cultural diversity, good sports and medical facilities besides being an important Asean member country. He also mentioned that the country is likely to appeal to business travellers as the country is currently expanding its business interaction with the world.

And before you discount Mr. Hosch’s opinion, you might want to know that Messe Berlin GmbH is a Berlin-based trade fair firm which hosts the world’s biggest tourism fair called “ITB Berlin”, which makes him quite the tourism expert.

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Describing Malaysia as a “fascinating tourism destination”, the top man at the Messe Berlin GmbH, the Berlin-based trade fair firm which hosts the world’s biggest tourism fair called “ITB Berlin”, says Malaysia has the tourism credentials as a “partner country”. Raimund Hosch, chief executive of Messe Berlin GmbH, said: “I see the (partner country) potential in Malaysia.”

“Malaysia has very good infrastructure along with cultural diversity, good sports and medical facilities besides being an important Asean member country,” he told BERNAMA at the Asian edition of “ITB Berlin” called “ITB Asia” held in Singapore.

Amid the euphoria over China and India, Hosch said one should not forget the 10-member Asean regional grouping in which Malaysia was a leading member state. He said Malaysia could follow the route taken by Egypt which participated as a partner country last year at ITB Asia in Singapore. Next year, Egypt will be a partner country at the mother of all tourism fairs, ITB Berlin, held in the German capital, said Hosch, who is regarded as one of Germany’s leading tourism experts and a respected trade fair strategist.

“Given its growing business interaction with the world, Malaysia can also be interesting for business travellers. Perhaps, Malaysia may like to first participate as a partner country in Singapore and, later, in Berlin. Malaysia would need to formally apply for consideration as a partner country candidate. Unless taken in the coming weeks or months, there may be a slot available for partner country participation in 2012,” he said.

Hosch said Malaysia was part of the strong-growth tourism sector of the Asia-Pacific region despite the economic and financial crises in the United States and Europe. Plans by the Suntech exhibition company to set up a congress centre near or around Kuala Lumpur reflects Malaysia”s importance for MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) sector.

Newly released figures from the UN World Tourism Organisation also confirms the strength and growth potential in the Asian travel industry. “This has been the best year for tourism despite the crises in several regions of the world. Even four months ahead of the current ITB Asia show, we were completely sold out. We”re creating additional 20 per cent more space. We”re having over 750 exhibitors from 70 countries, including newcomers Botswana, Finland, Croatia and even Iraq,” Hosch said.

Malaysia is represented by a contingent of 33 exhibitors, according to the official directory for ITB Asia 2011. Many of the Malaysian exhibitors are hotels from across the country with Sabah and Sarawak state tourism agencies also participating. Messe Berlin, which received the highest award in the tourism sector, the “Innovation Award 2011″ has had a good year in 2011 so far.

Source: Bernama

Bollywood craze is fast spreading around even among the Chinese people

And before your discount Bollywood as a reason for visiting India, the article quotes Rajesh Talwar, director of Singapore-based IndiaTourism, India’s official tourism promotion agency, as saying the following : “There is also the Bollywood factor which appeals to many Malaysian tourists. Bollywood has definitely played a role in propping up India’s image as an attractive destination.”

So are you a big enough fan of Bollywood till you’d visit India?

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Malaysia has emerged as the biggest tourism market in the Asean region for India-bound traffic.

This assessment was given by Rajesh Talwar, director of Singapore-based IndiaTourism, India’s official tourism promotion agency, in an interview with Bernama at “ITB Asia” tourism fair, here.

ITB Asia is the Asian Edition of “ITB Berlin”, the world’s largest tourism fair.

Talwar said the Asean market was doing well, with traffic from Malaysia and Thailand registering an impressive 16 per cent growth each.

“However, Malaysia provides the highest traffic of all the Asean countries to India in absolute figures. Some 150,000 Malaysians visited India last year,” he said.

Singapore, with 96,000 visitors, ranked second-most important Asean country behind Malaysia. Thailand, with 74,000 visitors, came third, he said.

Talwar cited the expansion of Malaysia’s low-cost carrier, AirAsia, as a driving factor for traffic growth to India.

“AirAsia flies to eight or nine destinations in India and serves India’s vast geographical region. The overall flights, including by airlines in India, between India and Malaysia have increased to 145 a week,” he said.

South India is very popular among Malaysian tourists. The so-called “golden triangle” comprising New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur was another popular destination among Malaysians.

Many Malaysians are also showing a tendency to visit the Himalayas, venturing into Kashmir and Sikkim, both are becoming popular destinations.

“Indeed, every part of India is getting a good share of business from the Asean region, particularly Malaysia, whose nationals feel at home in India and can easily relate to the Indian culture and history, thanks to many common features between the two nations.

“There is also the Bollywood factor which appeals to many Malaysian tourists. Bollywood has definitely played a role in propping up India’s image as an attractive destination,” Talwar said.

To increase traffic from India to Malaysia, some Indian tour operators were privately saying that they would like Malaysia to relax or completely rescind the “strict visa regime” for Indian passport holders.

Source: Bernama

Photo (c) preetamrai

Rubber tapping is the process by which the sap (rubber) is collected from a rubber tree

The man of course is long gone, but his legacy remains. Rubber became a mainstay of the country’s economy, and Malaysia remains a powerhouse in rubber exports to this day. A recent article featured the Agriculture Heritage Park in Putrajaya, which is extensively dedicated to the importance of rubber in the country.

We feel that the article does justice to H.N. Ridley, and sheds some light into the importance of rubber to the country.

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The ‘Taman Warisan Pertanian’ (Agriculture Heritage Park) located in the federal administrative capital of Putrajaya near here is unique in terms of its agro-tourism.

Recently, this writer had the opportunity to visit the park during a learning tour organised by the Tourism Ministry.

At the park, this writer was greeted by the park’s lush greenery and she was fascinated by the excellent pruning done by the caretakers.

An example of their work is the ‘top-pruning’ technique used on guava trees to produce a higher yield of fruits.

The jackfruit trees are also nurtured in a similar manner, in such a way that better quality fruits are produced. As for pineapples, this tropical fruit is grown on clay-enriched soil, instead of peat earth.

“This way, the pineapple flesh tastes sweeter and the texture is more juicy,” one of the caretakers explained.

THREE SECTIONS

The park is divided into three sections where more than 180 species of local plants are cultivated. One of these sections is for the cultivation of fruit trees, while another is for herbal plants.

The third is where the commodity crops are planted. This is the section of the park that brought this writer to ‘a trip down her memory lane’ as she witnessed a demonstration of ‘rubber tapping’.

The rubber-tapping demonstration was carried out by 43-year-old S. Saravanan, whose family has been tapping rubber for generations.

Rubber tapping is the process by which the sap (rubber) is collected from a rubber tree. An incision is made into the tree’s bark, which cuts through the planting cycle to optimise the latex yield.

DOWN MEMORY LANE

This writer recalls that, during her childhood days in a small Kuala Kangsar village, she and her cousin had gone to her grandfather’s rubber smallholding to collect rubber seeds.

(Rubber trees are grown in neat rows in small acreages. These are known as smallholdings).

The rubber seeds, with their unique skin patterns, can be used for a number of purposes. Among the popular ones, the rubber seeds are used as pawns in the traditional Malay game of congkak.

The seeds can also be used in a game of ‘laga biji getah’ where a seed is pitted against another to see which seed ‘cracks’ first. The person whose seed cracks first, after being knocked against another seed, is deemed to have lost the game; but if he has many seeds, he may enter another round.

RUBBER TAPPING

This writer also recalls that one of her uncles, despite holding an officer’s post with the agriculture department in Penang, had gone to the smallholding whenever he returned to his home village in order to tap rubber!

At that time, after performing the Subuh prayers, we children would follow our uncle to the rubber smallholding, carrying along supplies that included food, torch lamps and even mosquito coils to ward off the insects.

Rubber tapping is hard work. It can start as early as 2am, when the cool of the early morning air encourages the latex to flow, thus improving the yield.

A special tapping knife is used to shear off a thin layer of the rubber tree’s bark. Care must be taken in order not to cut too deep, as this would harm the tree.

The latex flows into the cup attached to the tree, though by noon the latex stops flowing.

When the writer’s uncle had completed his rubber-tapping, he and the children would have breakfast at a river bank near the smallholding. The children would also waste no time, taking a dip in the river.

Before noon approached, it was time for us start collecting the latex from the rubber trees. We would then go back to each tree and empty the latex collected in the cups into the tin.

FORMIC ACID

The tins of latex would be carried back to a small makeshift ‘rubber-processing’ hut located at the centre of the smallholding.

As the latex solidifies as the temperature gets warmer, it should be collected and brought to the rubber processing hut to be turned into sheet rubber.

At the hut, the latex is poured into moulds. Formic acid, which hastens the coagulation process, is added to coagulate the liquid latex.

After the latex has coagulated and turned into blocks (taking the shape of the moulds), it was taken out of its containers to be turned into sheet rubber.

MAKING SHEET RUBBER

The block of rubber is initially rolled using a wooden roller so that it is thin enough for it to be rolled by the mangle machine. The rubber sheet is manually rolled several times using the mangle to make it thinner by squeezing out the water.

This makes it easier for the sheet to dry.

The finished rubber sheets are then brought home for drying. Usually the rubber sheets are dried over the ambers from burnt rubber wood.

PRANG BESAR

The rubber smallholding at the Putrajaya Heritage Park is actually a small remnant of a much larger rubber estate known as ‘Ladang Prang Besar’ from 1962.

The park still retains a rubber tree as an attraction, and it is known as the oldest rubber tree in Selangor.

Visitors to the park pay RM2 each for entrance, though it is free for students and children. A buggy ride costs RM4 a person.

Further information on activities at the park is available at Putrajaya Corporation’s official website at www.ppj.gov.my.

Source: Bernama

There are plans to turn Langkawi into a world class golf destination

Golf seems to be part of her strategy to lure tourists by the droves to the island resort of Langkawi. When you consider the idea, it does sound good actually. The infrastructure available in Langkawi, combined with Langkawi’s image as an island destination certainly make it very easy to organise a successful international golf tournament. What is needed is perhaps more emphasis on the actual golf course, and of course, a big enough prize pot to lure top tier golfers to the tournament.

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Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen believes that organising international-standard golf tournaments in Langkawi will swing in favour of the tax-free haven, transforming it into a world-class golf destination.

That way, the tourism minister said, Langkawi would be able to lure tourists by the droves to the island resort.

“I am happy with the encouraging participation at the Kedah International Red Tee Golf Invitation 2011, where 68 golfers from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore took part,” she said.

She also welcomed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement in the 2012 Budget under the Langkawi Five Year Tourism Development Master Plan costing RM420 million.

Dr Ng was speaking at the presentation of prizes by the Sultanah of Kedah, Tuanku Haminah Hamidun here last night.

Meanwhile, she said, there was an increase in tourist arrivals in Malaysia, by an average of nine per cent each year, making Malaysia the ninth most visited country last year.

She said for 2010, a total of 24.6 million tourists arrived in the country, spending about RM56.6 billion, as compared to 23.6 million tourists who spent RM53.04 billion, the previous year.

“For three months leading to the end of the year, we would be celebrating Fabulous Food 1Malaysia,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak, at another function in Pantai Cenang, said the state government hoped the Economic Planning Unit would carry out more studies on the country’s tourism industry, especially on Langkawi, to provide balanced promotion and prevent saturation of ideas.

“The study is very important, especially from the food and safety aspects, to attract more tourists to stay longer at the national holiday destination,” he said.

Source: Bernama

To our neighbours across the causeway, know that Malaysia will always welcome you with open arms!

It is unsurprising then to find that tourism promotions usually target Singaporeans in particular. A recent news article highlighted that Tourism Malaysia has has reinforced its 2011 advertising campaign, “Malaysia: A Million Experience to Share,” by leveraging 55 buses wrapped with their new thematic advertising in Singapore. Singaporeans do spend a lot while they holiday in Malaysia, and the average Malaysian involved in the tourism industry sure does welcome it.

So to our neighbours across the causeway, know that Malaysia will always welcome you (and your money of course) with open arms!

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Tourism Malaysia has reinforced its 2011 advertising campaign, “Malaysia: A Million Experience to Share,” by leveraging 55 buses wrapped with their new thematic advertising in Singapore. This is in line with the positioning of “Malaysia Truly Asia,” and its expression as a multi-cultural destination with a myriad of experiences.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen officiated the campaign at a ceremony held here Wednesday. Also present were Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Md Hussin Nayan and Tourism Malaysia director for Singapore Zalizam Zakaria.

Speaking to reporters earlier, the minister said last year “we did a good promotion on the buses, so this year we increased the number of buses.” She said the buses will ply the routes covering the Central Business District, Orchard shopping belt and residential areas around the island.

Dr Ng said the strategic and comprehensive coverage was aimed at reaching Singaporeans and tourists alike.

“This is to again remind Singaporeans to “please come to Malaysia and enjoy our nature, food etc,” she said.

The bus advertisements feature the natural and cultural wonders of Malaysia such as UNESCO World Heritage sites like Penang and Malacca and its unique Malaysian homestay and self-drive experiences.

On another note, Dr Ng said last year Malaysia received 150,000 international tourists for the homestay and 52 per cent were Singaporeans.

She said Tourism Malaysia will continue to promote the homestay programme for Singaporeans and in particular the youths.

“We have identified many homestays area including in Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang, Kelantan Penang and Perlis,” she said.

Source: Bernama