PADDY-PRODUCING STATES SHOULD EXPLORE "PADDY TOURISM" POTENTIAL

LANGKAWI (Kedah, Malaysia), July 25 (Bernama) -- States with large tract of paddy fields should consider developing a "paddy tourism" product to showcase the rice production process to tourists, Deputy Tourism Minister Dr James Dawos Mamit said.

Dawos was confident that the product could become an iconic attraction, especially among foreign tourists.

"However, not all tourists are coming during the paddy planting season. That is why it is also important to have a paddy museum to show the process.

"Paddy tourism can be an attraction especially in Kedah, the country's rice bowl. This can become a community-based tourism product," he told reporters after opening the Langkawi Paddy Festival 2011, here, jointly organised by the Information Communication and Culture Minister, and the Langkawi Development Authority.

He said paddy tourism could also be extended to the hill paddy sector in Sabah and Sarawak, which involved different methods of planting, caring and harvesting.

Dawos said the product could also be introduced through homestay programmes or tour activities.
-- BERNAMA