In conjunction with Visit Perak Year (VPY) 2017, the state government is paying extra attention to foreign tourists in order to increase the number of visitors.
According to Menteri Besar, Dato’ Seri DiRaja Dr Zambry Abd Kadir, the European, Asean and Singaporean markets are expected to bring in more visitors to the state. “Right now we have around 300,000 to 400,000 foreign tourists, but with the Visit Perak Year 2017, we expect approximately half a million visitors to the state,” he said during the press conference on Saturday, March 26 night following the launch of the year-long event at KTM Square, Ipoh.
For that purpose, he would ensure that Visit Perak Year 2017 be jointly organised by the state government and Tourism Malaysia.”During my last visit to Berlin, we met many tourist agencies who were keen to work with the state government and Tourism Malaysia,” he stated.
He said that there were a few problems that needed to be resolved. They included basic infrastructure and general cleanliness, especially toilets, to ensure comfort. “I’ve informed all district and local councils to make sure that Perak is categorised as a clean state. Not only tourist destinations must be clean but restaurants and public toilets too,” he told reporters.
Public transport, said Zambry would be upgraded to improve movements. “We will make sure that transportation issues, encompassing cars, trains and flights would be solved quickly,” he added.
Present at the launch were the Executive Councillor for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Multimedia and Communications, Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi, Tourism Malaysia Director General, Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, Tourism Perak Management Bhd Chairman, Mohamad Kamil Shafie and other state executive councillors.
Rosli Mansor
