ALOR STAR: The island of Langkawi has not lost it charm as claimed by certain quarters, following the increasing number of visitor arrivals after the Covid-19 pandemic.
State Tourism, Culture and Entrepreneurship Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Salleh Saidin said the negative perception painted by certain quarters on Langkawi's gloomy tourism sector is unfounded.
The Kubang Rotan assemblyman said this was backed by statistics issued by the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) on the 2.8 million visitors last year compared to 2.6 million in 2022.
He added that Langkawi also recorded 206,433 visitor arrivals in January this year.
"Langkawi remains as a popular national tourism destination and has not lost its magic, the island has crawled out from the economic depression caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and is soaring even higher stronger.
"That was why as soon as our international entry points were reopened, the state government, Lada and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and all tourism industry players in Langkawi have worked hard to attract visitors to the island," he told the state assembly in Wisma Darul Aman here today.
Salleh was responding to a question from Loh Wei Chai (Pakatan Harapan-Bakar Arang).
Loh asked the state government to explain the strategy and initiatives that have been undertaken to woo visitors back to Langkawi to the volume prior to the pandemic.
Commenting further, Salleh said based on the current momentum, the state government is confident that the target of attracting three million visitors to Langkawi this year is achievable.
He added that in ensuring Langkawi's status as a preferred holiday destination among local and foreign visitors, the state government through the State Economic Planning Unit and Lada have planned various initiatives.
"One of them is improving accessibility to Langkawi by adding new routes and improving the quality of transportation services, besides offering a chartered flight initiative based on the Langkawi Tourism Blueprint launched in 2011," he said.
Salleh said to date, chartered flights from Chengdu and Chongqing, China to Langkawi commenced recently.
This is followed by flydubai direct flights from Dubai seven days a week beginning Feb 10.
He said the flydubai flights will create an immense economic spillover to Langkawi by connecting the island to travellers from the Middle East, Europe, Africa and other continents.
Salleh said until Feb 18, a total of 18 luxury cruise ships have docked at the Langkawi Cruise Terminal.
Yesterday, media reported that the Langkawi Sepakat Organisation expressed their disappointment with minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing's statement that Langkawi had lost its appeal.
Tiong was reported as saying that the number of visitors to Langkawi was dwindling, despite the federal government having made made substantial investments to promote the island as a top tourist destination.
He was reported as saying that he believed that it was the responsibility of the Kedah state government to develop the island.
