大马上半年旅游收入410亿令吉·增长6.8%

大马上半年旅游收入410亿令吉·增长6.8%



旅游、艺术及文化部长拿督莫哈末丁可达比宣布，马来西亚今年首6个月的国际游客人数达1335万4575人次，较去年同期增长了4.9%；而旅游收入为410亿令吉，与去年同期的390亿令吉相比增长了6.8%。

莫哈末丁可达比今日在2019年上半年旅游业对国家经济贡献的新闻发布会上表示，我国今年上半年的旅游业绩呈现正面增长，也希望这趋势能持续发展至2020大马旅游年。

另外，被询及内阁改组的传闻，他表示，“这只是2至3名部长职务的变动。我也不知道是谁。其实这不是改组，只是部长间的小变动。”

至于民政党主席拿督刘华才点名旅游部长是表现不达标的部长，莫哈末丁可达比表示，“我不介意他们说想要替换我，他们要怎么说就怎么说，最终还是以首相的言论为主。”

被问到是否已对任何可能性做好准备，他直言，“我们不受影响（tak takluk)，不被任何可能性影响。部长不能说部门是属于他的吧？”

他也说，他不会为自己的表现评分，而是交由人民来评分，并指该部的成长都是政府官员和公务员共同合作的成果。



文章来源 ： 星洲日报 2019-08-23

Tourism Malaysia ties up with Expedia

Tourism Malaysia ties up with Expedia



PUTRAJAYA: Tourism Malaysia has inked a deal with American travel company Expedia Group which will see both sides collaborate to boost tourism promotion to Malaysia.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the partnership with Expedia will help support Malaysia’s target of achieving 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil tourist spending by 2020.

“Malaysia has just launched its fifth instalment of the Visit Malaysia series, Visit Malaysia 2020, and this is a timely strategic partnership which will benefit all parties.

“Expedia Group, as many of you would know, has over 200 travel booking websites in more than 70 countries around the world and work with thousands of lodging and flight partners to cater to the differing needs of modern travellers today.

“This partnership will collectively promote travel to Malaysia hence helping us grow our tourism arrival and income, empower our hospitality industry to be equipped with the right tools and services to help them grow their business locally, and be seen as a beacon in the sustainable tourism space, ” said Mohamaddin in his speech at the signing ceremony of the new collaboration, held at his ministry yesterday.

Mohamaddin said one of the agreements between Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group will be focused on several global campaigns to promote inbound travel from the United States, Australia and Japan to Malaysia.

The three countries are among the biggest points of sale for Expedia Group.

“This partnership will see a joint execution of destination marketing campaigns to spotlight Malaysia’s hidden and unique tourist attractions as well as promote the variety of accommodation to Expedia Group’s 750 million plus monthly visitors globally, ” said Mohamaddin.

The collaboration will also see Expedia Group and Tourism Malaysia exchanging traveller insights, to help better understand tourist behaviours and home tourism strategies in line with the implementation of Visit Malaysia.

Expedia Group senior vice-president of commercial strategy and services Greg Schulze said the company found Malaysia to be a “progressively thinking destination” and was committed to help expose the country to travellers around the world.

“Tourism is an important contributor to Malaysia’s economy, accounting for almost 14.9% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and 3.4 million jobs.

“As a world travel platform, Expedia Group is proud to be an online travel tourism partner to Tourism Malaysia, connecting Malaysia’s tourism industry to millions of travellers in our worldwide network, ” he said.

Among the travel websites under Expedia Group include Expedia.com, Trivago and Hotels.com.

~The Star~

2020 年公共假期

新增6景点·彭盼游客突破1500万人次

新增6景点·彭盼游客突破1500万人次



彭亨州希望通过大自然美景，吸引1500万人次到访。

（关丹15日讯）彭亨州期待今年到访游客人数突破1500万人次！

大马旅游局东海岸区总监哈菲芝说，彭亨州去年到访的游客人数为1400万人次，希望随着彭亨州增加了6个新景点后，游客的人数也有所增加。

他说，这6个新景点包括吉挠老虎谷、云顶20世纪福斯主题乐园、默拉坡洞穴天堂、北根黑河之旅，以及而连突铁索攀岩活动。

“在2017年，到访彭亨州的游客人数为1482万7961人次，2018年的游客人数则减少至1343万1842人次。

“其中，北根于2018年写下5万2404旅客人数，而连突为13万9729人次，云顶则维持最多游客人数，达795万1907人次。”

关丹士拔海滩18日办钓鱼赛

另一方面，大马旅游局将于本月18日，在关丹士拔海滩举办总奖金值高达130万令吉的激浪抛钓线钓鱼活动。

这项计有1辆迈微国产车、60寸电视等丰富奖金奖品的活动预计可吸引1800人参与。

文章来源 ： 星洲日报 2019-08-16

Air quality worsens slightly in the country

Air quality worsens slightly in the country

The air quality in Peninsular Malaysia has worsened slightly with Rompin in Pahang Air Pollutant Index (API) readings jumping from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” zone.

According to Department of Environment (DOE) data, the API recorded in Rompin was at 223 as at 4pm, yesterday.

On Saturday, Rompin’s API was “unhealthy” at 125.

Conditions in Kuala Lumpur remained at moderate levels during the weekend, with the API at between 65 and 67.

In Selangor, Johan Setia saw a slight increase in the API readings.

The reading recorded was at 95 compared to 92 on Saturday.

Other areas in Selangor such as in Banting (82), Petaling Jaya (81), and Shah Alam (83) maintained its “moderate” readings.

The API readings in Kedah and Perlis also worsened from “good” to “moderate”, while Sabah maintained its “good” API readings.

Other places nationwide such as in Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perak, Penang, Kelantan and Terengganu recorded “moderate” API levels.

Meanwhile, in Sarawak, Sri Aman posted an API reading of 252 and generally the haze situation here and in Miri is still bad.

The API reading worsened compared to Saturday which was at 247.

The air quality in SK Kuala Baram 2 station and the Miri Industrial Training Institute station both improved.

SK Kuala Baram 2 station recorded an API reading of 80 from 119, while the Miri Industrial Training Institute station recorded a reading of 161 from 222.

As of yesterday morning, the DOE recorded one “hot spot” (forest fire) in Sarawak

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good, while 51 to 100 is moderate, 01 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above is deemed hazardous.

The public can also refer to the Department of Environment (DoE) website at or by downloading the MyIPU smartphone app on ‘Google Play’ to get hourly API readings

According to the Asean Specialised Meterological Centre (ASMC) weather and haze outlook posted on Saturday at 6.25pm, it noted that hotspot activities in Sumatra and Kalimantan are likely to persist in the country.

ASMC’s satellite monitoring system has also indicated in recent times that open burning is also coming from that direction.

~News courtesy of The Star~

Man drowns at Pelangi Waterfalls in Sungai Lembing

Man drowns at Pelangi Waterfalls in Sungai Lembing

A man drowned while on an outing at the popular Pelangi Waterfalls in Sungai Lembing this morning.

Kuantan District Police Chief ACP Mohamad Noor Yusof Ali said Joshua Sia Hanyang, 31, from Kuala Lumpur, arrived at the waterfall with his friend at 6.45 am and while swimming two hours later, went into difficulties and disappeared under water, forcing his friend and other visitors to frantically search for him.

“The victim’s friend claimed that they managed to pull out the victim, who was unconscious before calling the Fire and Rescue Department for help.

“Firemen reached the waterfall area about 12.30 noon as they needed to first make the climb to the waterfalls before they brought the victim down to Lubuk Beruk, ” he told reporters here today.

The victim was pronounced dead by medical officers who were waiting in Sungai Lembing, before the body was brought to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital here for a post mortem.

The case has been classified as sudden death.

-- BERNAMA

Hot and dry weather in M'sia until October

Hot and dry weather in M'sia until October, says the weatherman

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with less rainfall until October, says Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.

She said apart from Malaysia, neighbouring countries Singapore and Sumatra in Indonesia are expected to experience the same weather pattern.

"We expect to experience a shortage of rainfall with warmer and drier weather this year without the El Nino and La Nina phenomena until October, " she said when asked about the essence of the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting and the Ministerial Steering Committee Sub-Region on Cross-border Haze Pollution in Brunei.

She said this when contacted on the Bernama News Channel (BNC) talk showroom programme here Wednesday (Aug 7) night.

Commenting on the meeting, Isnaraissah said the five countries involved had presented measures taken to address fires and haze in their respective countries.

"Among the information shared was to carry out continuous monitoring of weather and hotspots, enforce the law and have the equipment prepared, mobilise human resources and co-ordinate fire-fighting, " she said.

The annual meeting involving four other Asean countries, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, was held to monitor and detail the steps taken in addressing cross-border haze.

The initiative to address the Asean haze problem began following a serious episode of pollution in 1997 that led to the Asean Convention on cross-border haze signed by 10 countries in Kuala Lumpur on June 10, 2002. - Bernama

Janda Baik villagers say ecotourism project will harm their way of life

Janda Baik villagers say ecotourism project will harm their way of life



Villagers are protesting against future development in the area as it will erode cultural and traditional values as well as disrupt the people’s way of life.

For Laila Husin, 64, who has been living in Janda Baik since she was 5, any development in her village would be detrimental to the villagers’ quality of life.

“My house is located at the roadside and if the road-widening project continues, I’m afraid I will lose my house.

“Where are my future generation going to stay when they return to their kampung?

“I will never support the project,” she said at her home in Ja-lan Sungai Cemperoh here.

She said no amount of compensation would make her part with her land. “This land is worth my life,” she said, holding back her tears.

Laila said she would agree only if the project was to improve the village infrastructure and the villagers’ lives.

It was understood that the project under the Janda Baik Special Area Plan draft would consist of several plans, such as widening of road, expansion of four Janda Baik rivers, including Sungai Sum Sum, establishing e-hailing stations and recreational park, as well as building river dams and a low-rise housing development.

Villager Rosmina Kamarul Ariffin, 46, said no further development was necessary in the area as visitors wanted to experience an authentic village.

“They come here to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and experience real kampung living.

“What’s more important is for the authorities to fix the road and maintain the cleanliness of the rivers.”

Earlier, 35 Janda Baik villagers gathered at the Bentong Municipal Council where 1,544 Public Proposal and Objection forms were submitted to protest against the project.

There are 2,820 villagers in Janda Baik.

Hanifah Mohd Rabin, a representative of the protest, said the villagers were not consulted about the project.

“The authorities did not inform us about the matter and we only heard it from a few of the villagers here.

“We learnt that a meeting with the project consultant was held in October with representatives from the municipal council.”

He said the proposed international ecotourism attraction required approvals from the villagers and other parties before any work started.

“We urge the authorities to stop work on the project. We gave suggestions on ways to develop the village’s infrastructure but were ignored.

“We have no option but to fight the new development till the end.”

~New Straits Times~

Haze situation under control despite dry spell

Haze situation under control despite dry spell

The haze situation appears to be under control despite the dry spell as the Air Pollutant Index (API) has not reached unhealthy levels in any parts of Malaysia.

In fact, good air quality was recorded in Kota Tinggi, Johor (API reading 50), Tawau, Sabah (46) and Limbang, Sarawak (47) at 6pm yesterday.

Air quality in other parts of Malaysia was at a moderate level. 

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good while 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above deemed hazardous.

National Weather and Geophysics Operations Centre director Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the air quality would return to normal soon as Indonesia had succeeded in its aggressive initiative to douse the raging forest fires.

He also noted that the two low-pressure cyclones in the West Pacific and the northern part of South China Sea would further suck the atmospheric moisture.

Several west coast states in the peninsula and Sarawak are also facing the haze following forest fires at six districts in Indonesia over the last four days.

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) warned that more hotspots could be expected in the first two weeks of August, particularly in the fire-prone provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, following warmer and drier than average conditions forecast over the southern Asean region.

In the northern Asean region, hotspot activities are expected to remain subdued due to prevailing rainy conditions, according to ASMC.

~News courtesy of The Star~