Penang plans to showcase local culture to Chinese cruise passengers

GEORGE TOWN: Discussions to iron out the logistics involving the arrival of some 17,000 cruise passengers to Penang in March will begin after Chinese New Year.
State Tourism Development Committee chairman Danny Law said meetings will be held with the police, Rela, Penang Port and relevant agencies to ensure things run smoothly on March 13 when five cruise ships make their port call at the Swettenham Pier.
He said the state was also planning to have a fair at Fort Cornwallis, just opposite the pier, to showcase local culture.
He said food will be sold and there will be cultural dances and performances to showcase what Penang has to offer, but the details are still being worked out.
Law said the state was always encouraging entrepreneurs to invest in developing tourism infrastructure in the state.
He said there were many business opportunities to tap as the tourism sector was growing and cited the supply of tour buses as an example.
He said there were not enough buses locally to cater for the March 13 crowd so more had to be chartered from other states to supplement the local supply.
"We have meetings and dialogues with tourism players to urge them to invest to provide more facilities," he said in a press conference at the Penang International Airport today.
Law is leading a delegation of local tourism industry players to Kunming, China, to promote Penang as a tourism destination.
He leaves on a direct flight which is chartered by a tourism company in Kunming to bring Chinese tourists to Penang twice a week every Tuesday and Saturday which began on Dec 20 last year.
This is the third chartered direct flight Penang has with Chinese cities.
The other two are Wuhan and Sanya which began last year.
Law also rebutted criticism that cruise ship tourists were not adding value to the local tourism economy as most only stayed for a day.
He said cruise ship passengers spent three times as much as those travelling on a budget and pointed out cruise travellers were considered high-end tourists. "They are big spenders," he stressed.