Lada to tap high-end tourism to raise Langkawi revenue

LANGKAWI: Langkawi is a premier world tourism destination but the efforts to promote the legendary island should be continuous to enable it to achieve greater status in the future, Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) chief executive officer Tan Sri Khalid Ramli (pix) said today.

After establishing Langkawi on the international tourism map, he said, the focus now should be towards tapping more of the high-end tourists to improve the income for the industry.

"Yes, we are on the world tourism map but that alone will not be enough (to raise the revenue further) if we cannot accommodate more high-end tourists," he said to Bernama.

Khalid said the industry players in Langkawi would have to tailor their services to meet the requirements of luxury tourism.

"They will have to re-look the quality of their services and facilities to ensure that they are on par with the standards expected by the high-end tourists," he said.
Khalid said Lada was prepared to facilitate the training of tour operators to improve their skills in managing the high-end tourists apart from improving the infrastructure to promote the industry further.

He said the promotion of high-end tourism was also prominently featured in the Langkawi Tourism Blueprint 2.0, a sequential five-year masterplan devised by Lada until 2020 for the development of the industry on the island.

"It (the blueprint) is already in its final draft and is expected to be unveiled before the end of this year," he added.

Earlier, Khalid handed over RM30,000 as Lada's assistance to the Langkawi Island Hopping Boat Operators Association to improve the facilities at the Teluk Baru Jetty here.

The aid is the latest provided by Lada after it contributed RM110,000 last year to improve the jetty and the access road there. — Bernama