Langkawi On Tourism Promotion Drive In West Asia

LANGKAWI, May 3 (Bernama) - Langkawi expects tourist arrivals from West Asian countries will exceed last year's figure of 89,000 with its participation at the three-day Arab Travel Mart in Dubai starting Monday. Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) public relations officer Ramizi Hassan said Lada and Tourism Malaysia were promoting various packages including honeymoon and yachting packages at the exhibition.Be said besides the travel mart, Lada would also be holding roadshows in Kuwait and Qatar from tomorrow till May 11.-- BERNAMA

Anaklangkawi :-
Continous effort need to be done to ensure continous flow of tourist to Langkawi.
But the locals also need to maintain Langkawi as clean & beauty as possible so that the effort made is not a waste..

Bisik-Bisik ~ Awang Selamat

It is sad that Langkawi, a popular destination for local and foreign tourists, is dirty.
As a regular visitor to the island, Awang is charmed by its beauty. That is the reason that Awang feels very upset with the situation which the Minister of Tourism, Datuk Seri Dr. Ng Yen Yen herself, commented.

The island that has become our pride due to its tremendous development from the effort of our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, is now dirty?
If the claim found to be true, what is the action of the local authority? What does the State government has to say? What about the Langkawi Development Authority and the tourism industry? For the people of Langkawi, what are your feelings? Do you want the island to be dirty?

If foreigners really love the island, the locals should love it even more.
As such, let everybody – the government, people and private sector – come in concert to clean up the island and make the cleanliness culture as top priority.

If tourists run away to islands in Thailand due to the filthiness, don’t blame anybody, but ourselves. Langkawi, is not like other places because it has its own uniqueness. So keep it up.

Awang— steadfast to cleanliness

Anaklangkawi :- We are stating to get famous for the wrong reason.. Wake up langkawian.

Malam Anugerah Industri Pelancongan Langkawi Sedia 11 Anugerah

LANGKAWI, 7 Jan (Bernama) -- Sebanyak 11 kategori anugerah pelancongan disediakan pada Malam Anugerah Industri Pelancongan Langkawi di Auditorium Lada di sini pada 14 Januari ini.Pengurus perhubungan awam Lembaga Pembangunan Langkawi (Lada) Ramizi Hassan berkata antara anugerah yang disediakan ialah kategori hotel terbaik, pemandu pelancong, penulisan pelancongan dan agensi pelancongan.

Beliau berkata anugerah itu bertujuan memberi penghargaan kepada pihak yang terbabit dalam industri pelancongan khususnya di Langkawi yang menampilkan perkhidmatan terbaik.Katanya anugerah itu dianjur bersama Lada, Toriusm Malaysia, Persatuan ejen-ajen pelancongan dan pengembaraan (Matta) Pejabat Daerah Langkawi, Majlis Perbandaran Langkawi dan semua pengusaha pelancongan Langkawi.

Ramizi berkata panel penghakiman dianggotai wakil dari pelbagai jabatan, swasta serta pengusaha yang terbabit dalam sektor pelancongan, dan menurutnya Menteri Pelancongan Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen akan menyampaikan anugerah tersebut pada malam itu.

Anaklangkawi :-
Agak2 sapa la yg menang. Apa-apapun Menteri Pelancongan patut kenalkan satu 'event' di langkawi. Jadikan ia target @ KPI kementerian..

Malaysia To Focus On Island Wedding Packages

MOSCOW: Malaysia will focus more on promoting island wedding packages as a new tourism product to attract visitors from target markets, including Russia. Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said although it was a new idea, the ministry believed wedding packages had potential.

“I will go back and will call wedding planners and see how we can create these packages,” she told Malaysian reporters at the end of a four-day sales mission to Russia. During a news conference with the Russian media, Dr Ng was asked if any of the Malaysian islands could be rented for special functions such as weddings.

“As there is such a question, I believe that the Russians can afford to have weddings on rented islands,” she said. Malaysia has 1,700 islands and Langkawi is one of the more popular holiday destinations among Russians.

Dr Ng said that to entice specific target tourists, well-developed packages must be put in place.
“It is time for hotels to rethink their packages, to create appropriate activities for their customers to ensure they are not bored, and stay longer in the country,” the minister said.
She said feedback from Russian tour operators indicated that some hotels and holiday destinations in Malaysia, such as Langkawi, were “too quiet”.

On another note Dr Ng, who is MCA vice-president, conveyed her condolences to the people of Padang, Indonesia and South Pacific, who were hit by disasters which claimed the lives of thousands. — Bernama 5/10/09

Anaklangkawi :-
Good news. Arabs already recal Langkawi as a place for their wedding couples to have honeymoon. And now we're trying to make Russia newly wed as well make Langkawi as a honeymoon destination. It means good business & great oppurtunity awaits us.

Tourism M'sia Wants To Draw More Tourists From Brazil

LANGKAWI, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia hopes to increase the number of Brazilian tourists to this country by seven to eight per cent from the 3,000 who came last year.

The agency's vice-president for Western USA and Latin America, Mazlan Araju, said the targeted increase also took into consideration the current global economic downturn and Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic.

"Tourism promotional efforts need to be stepped up, focusing on Malaysian culture, arts, food and shopping areas to make our country an attractive tourist destination," he added.

Mazlan was speaking to reporters when attending a Mega Familiarisation programme for a group of tour agents and media representatives from Brazil where they took part in weaving ketupat cases and preparing Raya delicacies like lemang, rendang and dodol at Kampung Wang Tok Rendong in Kuah, here, on Sunday.

Tourism Malaysia had simultaneously launched the Mega Familiarisation programme in conjunction with this year's Aidilfitri at six village homestay sites nationwide, involving more than 100 foreign tourists including media representatives and tour operators from 13 countries.

The homestay facilities involved are in Kampung Walai Tokou (Sabah), Kampung Santubong (Sarawak), Sungai Pasu (Pahang), Kampung Pachitan (Negeri Sembilan), Kampung Seterpa (Kelantan) and Kampung Wang Tok Rendong (Kedah).

Mazlan said he was working out an arrangement with the Malaysian embassies in the Latin American countries to promote Malaysia to the people in these countries.

He said Tourism Malaysia had also carried out promotional efforts when it participated in the Brazilian Association of Travel Agents Congress (ABAV) in Rio de Janeiro in October last year.

"The Brazilians find the Malaysian way of life, culture and traditions unique and interesting," he said, adding that this should be capitalised on with the right approach.

On the homestay programme in conjunction with Aidilfitri, Mazlan said it was to enable the participants to experience the celebration and village life such as tapping rubber and making handicrafts, learn the local culture and savour the food.

The tourists involved in the programme also come from the United States, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Korea, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA

Temporary permits for Langkawi's illegal car-for-hire operators

LANGKAWI, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- The Tourism Ministry has approved 1,500 temporary permits for operators who are running car hire operations without a licence on the island. Kedah Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) chairman Pishol Ishak said the permits were only for operators who are Matta members.

"The temporary permits are to cater to the transportation needs of visitors for the coming Aidilfitri, Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima '09) and the year-end holiday," he said.He hoped that the permit could provide a temporary respite for these operators whose cars were seized by the Road Transport Department for operating without a licence.

-- BERNAMA 7/9/09

LANGKAWI, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- The Langkawi Development Authority (LADA) has intensified its tourism promotion by picking London as its new target after the success of its missions to India, the former Soviet republics, Dubai, Indonesia and Singapore.Lada general manager Azman Umar said the agency would participate in the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board's mission to London from Nov 9 to 12.

He said statistics from the Lada tourism unit showed that there were 100,831 tourists from the United Kingdom visiting Langkawi last year while the figure for the first seven months of this year was 53,123 tourists."London was chosen based on the encouraging market there besides Singapore, Thailand and Australia," Azman told Bernama, here on Monday. He said that a second promotion to Singapore would be held from Nov 13 to 15.

The first mission to that republic was made in May. Lada would take part in the International Travel Expo in Vietnam from Oct 1 to 3 to woo tourists from the Asean member nations to visit Langkawi, he said. On the promotions to the former Soviet Union republics namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in June, he said they had received good response.

Following the promotions, 10 representatives from travel agencies and the media from the countries concerned would visit Langkawi for five days from Sept 9 to have a better knowledge of the resort island.--

-- BERNAMA 7/9/09

Anaklangkawi :-
Hope that with the issue of 1,500 temporary permits will boust up help settle the dispute between illegal car hire & taxi's. Discuss-lah dont create havoc.