Gov't Invites Malaysian Travel Agents to Develop Batam and Bintan
25 November 2015 19:28 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Bintan - The Tourism Ministry will team up with the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel (MATTA) to develop tourism in Bintan and Batam. The Ministry has planned to invite 36 tour and travel agents from Malaysia to visit Bintan and Batam.
"We're aiming at Malaysian market because it has a huge potential," Rizki Handayani, the director of Southeast Asia Region at the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, said on Wednesday, November 25, 2015.
In a bid to increase the number of visits, the ministry held a meeting in Batam with 36 MATTA members. MATTA president Hamzah Rahmat said that Batam and Bintan had attractive tourist destinations. Hamzah added that nature tourism in Bintan had was different from that in Phuket, Thailand.
"Unfortunately, not many people know about these places," Hamzah said.
Hamzah explained that Bintan would be suitable for tourists from Malaysia. Hamzah added that Bintan and Batam had similar culture with Malaysia, making them as excellent alternatives for Malaysian tourists.
PT Bintan Resourt Cakrawala General Manager Operation Prakash Nair said that Singaporean tourist visits accounted for 31 percent of the total number of visits to the island in 2014. Prakash said that the number of Malaysian tourist visits should have been as high as Singapore since the distance between the country and the island was relatively near.
"The number of Malaysian tourist visits only accounted for 3 percent [from the total number]," Prakash said.
DINI PRAMITA
