GEARING FOR CHINESE TOURISTS
There are more than two million potential tourists from China’s southern provinces alone
ATRIP by a group of businessmen from China early this week to assess Terengganu’s capability to handle a plane load of high-end tourists revealed some startling shortcomings as the state tested out its Visit Beautiful Terengganu campaign for next year.
Although members of the group were happy with the tourism products, especially Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian and the newly promoted duty-free zone in Tasik Kenyir, they were concerned about the logistics to handle tourists on chartered flights.
The group revealed that there are more than two million potential tourists from China’s southern provinces alone, and if just one per cent decide to visit Terengganu, logistics issues would become a nightmare for the host.
Lodging, transport, Mandarinspeaking tour guides and executive lounges to handle the passenger load were some of the tourists’ concerns, but they gave their thumbs up for Customs and Immigration clearance facilities, which have the capacity to handle big groups, such as haj pilgrims.
For the state government, it is an eye opener. The feedback from the businessmen will go a long way to ensure that what is needed to be in place, especially logistics support, is sorted out before the first charter flights land.
At the moment, 225 flights from China’s 13 southern cities have direct connections with Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Langkawi, Penang and Johor, ferrying in some 60 per cent of the total visitors from China, but none of them have visited Terengganu despite the state being home to some of the country’s most fascinating tourist destinations.
The group agreed that Terengganu is a beautiful state blessed with amazing natural attractions that warrant direct flights. They gave this acknowledgement after visiting some of the state’s islands and Tasik Kenyir. They were impressed by the Kelah Sanctuary in Sungai Petang and the Elephant Village near Pengkalan Gawi for they have not experienced such a sanctuary in China. Plus, Chinese tour operators usually skipped these destinations. Their usual haunts are Pulau Redang and Pulau Perhentian.
Not many visitors, including locals, are aware that Terengganu is rich in festivities, with some 140 annual events. Terengganu offers tour organisers ample opportunities to assemble tour pacakges to suit the needs of all kinds of visitors, limited only by the ingenuity of the tour companies.
This state that has been home to leatherbacks is a value-for-money destination. Tourism Malaysia may want to start designing a package that is marketable to Chinese tourists if tourism dollars is what it is after. A taste of Terengganu a la Mandarin, so to speak. Yes, we must not forget to include Mandarin-speaking tour guides as part of the package.
The group assessing the potential for direct flights to Kuala Terengganu has set its sights on bringing Chinese tourists as early as April and expect a peak in interest between July and September in conjunction with the summer holidays in China. The plan is to charter at least two flights directly from southern China cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming and Shenzhen, on a monthly basis, which means Terengganu could become hosts to nearly 600 Chinese tourists per trip or more, if additional chartered flights are booked during the peak season.
Naturally, the four months from November to February would be off-season due to the monsoon, but with attractive packages that include visits to Tasik Kenyir, Setiu Wetlands and other heritage attractions in the city, sustainable flights at any time of the year are possible.
On the home front, the government, through its tourism office here, needs to seriously consider the views presented by the Chinese delegation because all the facilities and must-visit places need to be upgraded to meet the demands of high-end tourists.
The department must also look beyond the China market because whatever improvements that are introduced must also be attractive to high-end tourists from Europe, the Middle East, Japan and the United States.
The state may have exceeded its four million visitors target this year and may now be working to raise the bar to five million visitors next year because the Visit Beautiful Terengganu campaign will continue until 2020 when the country ushers in Visit Malaysia Year. State Tourism director Tun Ahmad Faisal Tun Abdul Razak and his team will have their hands full in trying to meet the expectations of foreign visitors and maintaining Terengganu’s reputation as the “Pearl of the East”. roslizakaria591@gmail.com The writer is NST's Specialist Writer based in Terengganu. He is an environmentalist and enjoys capturing the beauty of flora and fauna in its fragile environment. He draws his inspiration from cross county drives on and off-road adventures
The department must also look beyond the
China market because whatever improvements that are introduced must also be attractive to high-end tourists from Europe, the Middle East, Japan and the United States.