The state tourism authority want the agents to come up with similarly attractive inbound packages to woo foreign tourists to Penang.
State Tourism and Environment Committee chairman Teng Chang Yeow said fewer than 10 of the 100 licensed travel agents in the state were showing effort in promoting inbound packages.
“Instead of just promoting travel packages to many parts of the world, local travel agents should also help by bringing in foreign tourists.
“They should come out with affordably-priced packages to Penang to lure foreigners and help boost the tourism revenue,” he told reporters at a gala dinner held at Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion on Leith Street in Penang on Friday night.
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High flyers: Yeung(centre)posing with air hostesses Jenny Lee(left)and Sandy Woo in front of replicas of the Cathay Pacific aircraft. |
Teng noted that agents preferred to promote outbound travel because customers here had to settle their payment before departing for their destinations. Many were reluctant to promote inbound packages for fear their cash flow would be disrupted through delayed payment by their foreign counterparts.
Teng said he had discussed the matter with the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Penang to come up with a workable solution.
“The government, on its own, cannot achieve much in promoting tourism in the state. It needs coope-ration from everyone,” he said.
Cathay Pacific Airways Southeast Asia general manager Patrick Yeung said the group, comprising Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and freight carrier Air Hong Kong had targeted to have 160 aircraft serving 126 destinations worldwide by end of this year.
Cathay Pacific started its operation in Malaysia in 1957 with three weekly flights, ferrying more than 200 passengers. Today, it has three daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong and carries more than 3,800 passengers out of Malaysia every week.
Source : STAR
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