#Malaysia Committed to Developing Cruise Tourism
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| Proposed cruise terminal and waterfront development at Kota Kinabalu (Suria Capital) |
According to Man Sri Ng, “Malaysia is developing and upgrading our hubs for cruise tourism, and the Government is fully supportive of making Malaysia the main cruise tourism playground of the East.” She also reiterated the ASEAN member states’ commitment to improving tourism infrastructure in the region as part of the ASEAN Economic Community integration, saying that cruise tourism presented a significant opportunity to attract more tourists to ASEAN.
Cruise tourism is one of several key focus areas in Malaysia’s tourism development plans, and efforts to grow this segment have resulted in the establishment of the Malaysia Cruise Council (MCC), an advisory committee comprising representatives from both public and private sectors, including the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Ministry of Transport and local port authorities.
Plans are also underway for the development of a Straits Riviera in Malaysia, comprising six primary ports including Penang, Port Klang, Kota Kinabalu, Langkawi, Melaka and Kuching. In 2013, these received 359 cruise calls in total, and Malaysia is now regularly attracting larger ships, including the Royal Caribbean’s 3,800-passenger Mariner of the Seas.
Over 40 tourism officials from a range of countries participated in the GTEF, themed Maritime Silk Road – From Macau We Begin. The development of a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, along with infrastructure improvements and collaboration with neighbouring countries and the private sector to build a top-level cruise Asian tourism industry, is expected to significantly stimulate tourism into Malaysia and to drive revenue and tourism opportunities within the region generally.
For information about tours of Malaysia, please contact:
Tourism Malaysia
Telephone: +612 9286 3055,
Email: malaysia@malaysiatourism.com.au
or visit http://www.tourismmalaysia.com.au
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