NEW AND CREATIVE TRAVEL PACKAGES NEEDED TO BOOST TOURISM, SAYS MINISTER

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen
Yen said there is a need for new and creative travel packages to be created to
attract Malaysians to visit Henan, China and vice versa.

She said Malaysia would work closely with Henan, a province located in the
eastern central part of China, to come up with strong bilateral tourism
initiatives to encourage more tourists flow between both countries.

Dr Ng said this in a press statement issued by the ministry here after her
bilateral meeting with the province's government tourism officials in Jiaozuo
City, Henan, China Saturday.

Among the people she met were Deputy Mayor of the People’s Government of
Jiaozuo City, Niu Yue Li; the County Magistrate of the People’s Government of
Xiuwu County, Chang Hong; Deputy Director of Jiaozuo City Tourism Bureau Du Yong
Jun and Director-General of Mount Yuntai National Park Han Yue Ping.

During her tour of the city, she was shown the latest technology to trek the
movement of the thousands of tourists to the province famous landmark, Mount
Yuntai, one of the scenic geo parks of China which receives an average of 2.5
million tourists a year, about 60,000 tourists a day.

Dr Ng who was impress with the monitoring system said she would be looking
at implementing the technology in Malaysia.


“We have to continuously upgrade and upkeep our tourist attractions in
Malaysia. We can learn from others’ creative and latest technology.” she said.

Dr Ng also shared her vision with the Henan province's authority on rural
tourism benefiting villages, while maintaining their ecotourism products.

“The elevation of rural economy through tourism is well reflected in Mount
Yuntai" she said of Mount Yuntai, the first Group World Geo-park and National
Park of China which is 70km northwest of Zhengzhou City, Henan and boasts an
area of 190 sq.km.

The tourist attraction has boosted the average Gross Domestic Products of
the the local community from RMB260 (RM133.27) per year before 2002 to to
RMB15,000 (RM7,688.34) per year after the introduction of a homestay program
through the National Park tourism project.

The average GDP for the locals escalated in a short span of eight years,
she said and added that: “This is why I have been actively promoting homestay
programs in Malaysia to boost the rural economy."

"Tourism is the way to promote the economy of a local community, which is in
line with our Prime Minister ( Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak)’s National Key Result
Area (NKRA) of strengthening infrastructure and income in rural and remote
areas,” said Dr Ng.

On Tuesday, Dr Ng had a three-hour long discussion with the Executive Vice
Governor of Henan Provincial People’s Government, Dr Li Ke who had promised Dr
Ng that he could encourage for every one Malaysian tourist to the province,
there would be five 5 Henan tourists to Malaysia, and will continue to increase
the figure if the bilateral promotion proved to be successful.

“Many Malaysians do not know the rich history of Henan, China. On the other
hand, Henan, a province of 100 million people is landlocked. As such, Henan
people simply love the sea and beaches, especially during the cold winter
months.

"Thousands flock to southern China to be at the beaches. Due to
the geographical proximity and cultural similarities, Malaysia will be a very
attractive destination for the Henan people,” said Dr Ng.

“However, we need to come up with new creative travel packages,” she
reiterated.

-- BERNAMA