Malaysia Travel News has come up with a new segment where we will share tourism related news collected form various news portals and websites about Tourism in Malaysia. The links to the full stories will also be at the end of each article or news and it will be hyper-linked. You can simply click on the link to the original website for the full story. This is just to round up the overall news in the industry. If you have any feedbacks or questions, please contact us.
Tourism chief: Malaysian cabbies ‘far below par’ but not ‘worst in the world’
Malaysia must admit that services of its taxi drivers is indeed far below par, said Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong. But he denied that the taxi service in the country was the worst in the world and stressed Malaysia must have the courage to admit its own weakness in the interest of the public transport service.
“It’s not fair for us to be labelled the worst, there are many other countries who have worse taxi services. “However, the state of our taxi service is not satisfactory and we have to accept this,” he said when contacted by Bernama here, today. He said this when asked to comment on LondonCabs.co.uk portal report which placed Malaysian taxi drivers at the top of the list of ‘10 Countries with the Worst Taxi Drivers in the World’.
Full Story: Malay Mail Online.
Travel Agencies Urged To Include Perlis In Tour Packages
Travel agencies in the country have been urged to include Perlis in their tour packages as the state also has attractive locations to offer visitors. Perlis Tourism Malaysia director, Razaidi Abdul Rahim said as for now the state would be host to various programmes, including of international standard, like the Perlis International Rugby Championship to be held in August. Other programmes outlined before end of the year included Green Ride Cycling (September), Traditional Water Festival (October) and Perlis International Duathlon 2015 (December), he said.
He was speaking at the launch of the Perlis food promotion by the Raja Muda of Perlis Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail at Seafest Hotel in Semporna, Sabah, Friday night. It was held in conjunction with the ‘Jalinan Kasih Kerajaan Negeri Perlis di Negeri Bawah Bayu 2015′ programme. A press release on the programme was issued by the Tuanku Syed Putra Foundation (YTSP) in Kangar, Saturday. Razaidi said he hoped that through the Perlis food promotion, it would open the eyes of travel agencies nationwide to see the various tourist attractions in the state.
Full Story: Bernama News.
Taxi Drivers’ Attitude Tarnishes Their Own, Malaysia’s Image
Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar has urged taxi drivers ‘with an attitude’ to change their ways as it would only reflect badly on them and Malaysia. “They should be ashamed of themselves,” he told Bernama when asked to comment on a British taxi service comparison website that rated Kuala Lumpur taxi drivers as the worst in the world.
The website had implied that Malaysian taxi drivers overcharge passengers by using the longer route or refusing to use the taximeter. Syed Hamid said SPAD with the cooperation of the taxi drivers’ association had carried out various programmes to improve taxi service quality.
Full Story: Bernama News.
Foreign shoppers spend RM4.9b in Q1
A total of RM4.9 billion was spent by 6.5 million foreign shoppers in the country in the first three months of this year, up 11.4 per cent over the RM4.4 billion in the same period last year, said Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director General (Planning) Chong Yoke Har.
“Although tourist arrivals declined to 6.5 million from 7.1 million in the same period last year, the shopping sector was not affected,” she told reporters after the launch of the 1Malaysia Mega Sale Shopping Carnival at The Shore here yesterday by state Tourism, River, Coastal and Island Development Committee deputy chairman Datuk Ghazalie Muhamad.
Chong said foreign tourists, whose average shopping expenditure had risen from RM626.20 last year to RM758.90 this year, are expected to spend more in the coming months with the 1Malaysia Mega Sale Shopping Carnival on June 27-Aug 31 and the 1Malaysia Year-End Sale on Nov 14-Jan 3.
Full Story: Bernama News.
10,757 visited Kenyir Park since its May opening
Close to 11,000 visitors visited the Kenyir Water Park in Poh Island since its May 31 opening, says the Terengganu Tengah Development Authority (Ketengah). Ketengah general manager Datuk Wan Mat Amin Wan Daud said the first phase of the park, built at a cost of RM7.5mil, attracted nearly 400 visitors on its opening day. It was held in conjunction with Kenyir Festival 2015.
“Of the total 10,757 visitors until June 30, 6,156 were adults while the remaining 4,601 were children,” he said during the Ketengah media break-fast programme here, yesterday. “We collected RM244,849.35 from ticket sales, the cafeteria and souvenir shops.”
Full Story: The Star Online.
KL Mayor tells tourists to cover up before entering National Mosque
All tourists would be made to wear a robe before entering the National Mosque, said Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib yesterday, in the latest move to enforce stricter dress codes in Malaysia. “The robes are to ensure that tourists are decently dressed when visiting the National Mosque as a sign of respect,” Mr Phesal said. “It is the same when they visit other places of worship,” he told reporters at the National Mosque yesterday.
The City Hall’s Tourism Department has sponsored 65 dark purple robes for Muslims and 130 light purple robes for non-Muslims at a cost of RM19,260 (S$6,818). Mr Phesal said the different colours were to differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Full Story: Today Online.
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