LANGKAWI: A technocrat has been touted as a possible successor to outgoing Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) CEO Datuk Azizan Noordin, who will retire later this month.
Speculation has surfaced that financial specialist Ahmad Suhaimi Endut, who has extensive experience in corporate governance, was approached to head Lada, a statutory body under the Economics Affairs Ministry.
Lada is seen as a strategic entity to drive Langkawi forward in the latter’s quest to become a top global island resort after decades as a leading destination for leisure and travel in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Azizan was accredited with consolidating tourism on the island resort by the travel trade community here.
Ahmad Pishol Isahak, who helms the Langkawi Tourism Organisation (Tourism Langkawi), said that Azizan had used his experience to bring in a new impetus on tourism, especially in events and charted direct flights.
Azizan, who is also a certified tour guide, spent many years in Tourism Malaysia (the main body which promotes tourism), rising to the position of deputy director-general before he was offered to helm Lada.
In a recent interview, Azizan told theSun that the travel trade community needs to focus on marketing and promotions since global tourism is a competitive industry.
At the same time, he advocated the need to also focus on sustainability and to improve the upkeep of the tourism infrastructure for future generations.
“We have 30 million people and each one has their ideas on how to attract tourists. It is compelling but we need togetherness to move forward.”
Azizan, who is not quitting tourism altogether, is now scheduled to assume a position in the regional Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata), and stressed that he would continue to promote Malaysia in this context.
He hoped that the outbound and inbound travel practitioners can also tap the research done by Pata to plan their strategies to woo tourists here.
In a related development, Pishol said that whoever helms Lada must find ways to rejuvenate the industry in a holistic and sustainable manner.
Langkawi is the only district wholly devoted to tourism, but at the same time, it is also showing wear and tear after some 30 years of handling tourists, he said.
Pishol urged the incoming CEO to look at sustainable tourism, to pay attention to maintaining the infrastructure, to liaise with the private sector, who know what incentives are needed and to strategise marketing and promotions.
“We also need to ensure that tourism benefits all levels of society here so it can become a big enough industry to benefit all industry players.”
