As Perak has a variety of tourism products that can be explored, it is the arrival of domestic tourists that will help the industry in these challenging times.
The state also received the second highest number of domestic tourist arrivals last year, which was about 13.17 million visitors after Selangor, despite the declining numbers.
Executive Councillor for Housing, Local Government and Tourism, Dato’ Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi said that in general, the estimated expenditure of domestic visitors in the state in 2020 was at RM3.8 billion.
According to her, all parties must make use of the state’s attribute as the country’s top choice as a domestic tourism destination to restore and boost the economy of the people involved in this sector.
“Perak is now in Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan which allows the tourism sector to operate, albeit not fully. Therefore, the state government will take several strategic initiatives in the near future.
“At the same time, we are working closely with industry players to ensure the success of the vaccination programme specifically to narrow the gap of the number of unvaccinated industrial workers starting this September,” she said in a statement.
Several initiatives will also be implemented by the state government to boost this industry, such as the relaunch of the #TravelPerakLah Phase One to Three tourism vouchers.
The tourism voucher programme was launched on July 1, 2020 and its period of use and redemption at product locations, hotel operators and domestic travel agencies in Perak was extended until June 2022.
This voucher initiative will be continued in Phase Four which will be launched in conjunction with the Perak Merdeka Festival on August 31 with additional vouchers for accommodation and homestay on September 1.
In the meantime, Nolee said, the official Perak tourism song and music video is expected to be launched in December as an added value to stimulate the state’s tourism sector.
“In line with the current times, the delivery of latest information via songs has received a high response from the community on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
“The support and readiness from all tourism product operators is vital to revive and revitalise the Perak tourism industry,” she said.
Rosli Mansor
=============================
Get your local news fast. Download the Ipoh Echo App on your mobile. Available on both Google Playstore and Apple Appstore.
