KUALA LUMPUR: Local communities are urged to participate in tourism-related programmes and activities as these would help to generate income for them.
Tourism Malaysia Johor director Edzuar Zar Ayob Azari said that tourism has been identified as one of the top revenue earners for Johor in years to come. He said Johor was banking on the niche areas in the districts in the state to attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit the southernmost state in the peninsula.
“Despite the uncertainties and slower global economic growth, Johor continues to enjoy a positive trend in tourist arrivals,” said Edzuar after opening the National Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality 2016 here on Wednesday. Edzuar said Johor received about six million domestic and foreign tourists in 2015 and the figure was projected to reach seven million tourists by the end of 2016.
He said under the state tourism master plan, all districts in the state would have its district tourism committee to oversee the tourism sector in each of the district. Edzuar said the district tourism committee would be headed either by the president of the local council or by the district officer.
“The setting up of the district tourism committee is to assist the state authorities on tourism-related activities and programmes,” he said. Edzuar said local leaders knew better about the best tourism products to offer to tourists, adding that active participation from local communities would benefit the local economy as well.
Similarly, he said the demand for semi-skilled and skilled workers in the tourism industry was good as the country targeted to receive 36 million tourists, bringing in RM168bil in tourism revenue by 2020. Edzuar said Malaysia was facing stiff competition from other countries in the region, namely Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
“We have to work even harder to continue attracting foreign tourists to Malaysia and we have to be more innovative and creative to position the country as a leading tourist destination,” he said.
