Statistics showed there were only 5.5 million foreign and domestic tourists in 2009 compared with Malacca, which was visited by 8.9 million tourists, during the same period.
This is despite the fact that Penang has 191 flights from 12 airlines flying into the state every week, a botanical garden, a national park and a hill railway system. All of which are not available in Malacca.
Concerned, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said the state government had to play a proactive role to attract tourists to Penang.
She said the Federal Government had allocated RM147 million to the state for tourism purposes under the 9th Malaysia Plan.
“We have given whatever is possible to help the state… we have upgraded the Penang Botanical Garden, the Penang Hill funicular train and others.”
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| Penang Botanical Garden |
“It is up to the state government to play a greater role to complement our efforts,” she said at the pre-launch of the upgrading of the Penang Hill rail service here yesterday.
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| The new Penang hill funicular railway system |
Dr Ng said she had received many complaints from tourists on the state government and local authorities’ lack of will to address the illegal water sport activities in Batu Ferringhi, cleanliness of the beaches and other issues.
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| Batu Ferringhi beach |
She said it was beyond the Federal Government’s jurisdiction to act on such complaints. She added that it could be one of the contributing factors why tourists were bypassing Penang.
“I am in no position to comment on anything. However, the statistics speak for itself.”
“It is surprising that despite having so much potential for tourism and with so many facilities, infrastructure and attractions, Penang has failed to fare as well as Malacca.”
On the upgraded Penang Hill rail service, Ng said work was not 90 per cent completed.
“We expect it to be completed by year end. By March next year, it will be operational.”
Extracted from New Sunday Times Nov 7, 2010
Just for the record, Melaka does have a botanical garden. It is known as the Melaka Botanical Garden and is 92.3 hectares in size. Located at Ayer Keroh, just after the Ayer Keroh toll gate exit, it was formerly known as the Ayer Keroh Recreational Forest before being changed to a botanical garden in 2007.
ReplyDeletePenang's calculation of tourist arrivals were obtained only from hotel stats. Melaka on the other hand compiled records from all sectors which have tourism arrivals, namely Medical Tourism, Student Tourism, Sports Tourism, Youth Tourism, etc, whose numbers are not necessarily derived from hotel arrivals alone. Hence, the higher number compared to Penang.
Regards,
Hang Tuah Jaya Corp.
Melaka, Malaysia
www.homestaymelaka.gov.my