Call to promote other island attractions

GEORGE TOWN: A veteran tourism official has urged the authorities to diversify the range of attractions on Langkawi island.

Commenting on the malfunction of the island’s cable car, Ahmad Pishol Isahak said the incident should be a lesson for the authorities to promote other attractions on the island, such as the Langkawi Wildlife Park and the Crocodile Park.

Ahmad Pishol, who used to head the Langkawi Tourism Association and the Malaysian Association of Travel and Tour Agencies, said the island resort needs to steer away from becoming “cable carcentric”.

“We need to showcase more attractions on the island, particularly in sustainable tourism such as eco-tourism where nature and the pristine scenery of the island are an attraction.”

The cable car attraction is funded and managed by a subsidiary under the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada), which is a public sector entity.

Ahmad Pishol’s views were echoed by tour guide A. Gunasegaran, who said statistically, tourism arrivals may show signs of increase, but on the ground, it paints another picture.

“Only tourists from China seem to be coming. We seem to have lost the European market. Westerners are coming but not as many as before,” he claimed.

A Lada spokesman said the cable car was one of many attractions at the Oriental Village, which houses the base station of the service. Other attractions include theme parks such as the skyrex, skydome, and skybridge.