LANGKAWI: Tourism Malaysia hopes to boost tourism in Langkawi by advocating for an increase in direct ferry services from Satun, Thailand, to the state.
Shahrir Ali, its senior director for international promotion, said the tourism, arts and culture ministry needed to leverage on the Thai market due to the nation’s close proximity to Malaysia.
“Thailand has a lot of tourists coming into the country. Therefore, we also need to tap into the group travelling to Phuket and Krabi, and hope they will come to Langkawi.”
This was in line with the meeting between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin (in November), which discussed joint collaboration between both countries, he said at Routes Asia 2024, hosted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd and Tourism Malaysia.
Shahrir said Tourism Malaysia had also planned various initiatives, including trips to familiarise foreign operators and media with the island’s attractions.
Meanwhile, he said Malaysia aimed to attract three to five million Chinese tourists this year, adding that the number of chartered flights out of China had seen a steady rise lately.
Shahrir also said the government’s charter flight matching grant incentive continued to boost the tourism industry, focusing on three categories.
“One is increasing existing flights, the second is looking at new airlines for more routes, and the third is chartering flights. We’ve continued to see interest from China and India as well,” he said.
Malaysia has received six charters from China so far this year, according to the ministry.
