Digi business marketing and operations head Steven Soon (second from left) delivering his speech as (from left) Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin, RHB Bank Bhd commercial banking head Azlina Safian and PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief operating officer P’ng Tean Hau look on duri...
One for the album: (From left) Teh, Soon, Azlina and P’ng posing for photograph after their panel discussion session at the SOBA LAB programme at Trove Hotel in Johor Baru.JOHOR BARU: Digitalisation is the way forward for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and they have to start planning now,...
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — FilepicJOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.Johor education, human resour...
An SME expo showcasing the productsKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's small business sector experienced positive business conditions in 2018 and confidence in business and economic growth is at its highest point since 2012, according to new survey data released today by CPA Australia. The findings from CPA A...
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should capitalise on the RM517mil funding made available by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) under the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation and Modernisation (SLSAM).MIDF group ma...
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is tabling Budget 2019 in Parliament, the first federal budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.The tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2019 will commence before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, and will be debated by the Members of Par...
Malaysia Needs To Grow Cruise Tourism Industry - Hasan Malek
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia needs to advance the growth of the cruise tourism segment in order to capitalise on the multi-billion ringgit industry, said Datuk Seri Hasan Malek.
The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister said to achieve the target of 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020 and gross income receipts of RM168 billion, Malaysia needed to change its products and services to cater for the higher yield and luxury market segment.
"One of the market segments is cruise tourism -- be it ocean, sea, lake or river cruise, which all the major cities have. Currently, the cruise industry is negligible in the overall picture," said Hasan in his keynote address at the Global Cruise Tourism Conference 2014, here today.
He said Malaysia currently has a few cruise ships plying the Penang, Langkawi and Thailand routes plus Singapore, Kuantan and Tioman cruise every two months.
"We have six cruise ports namely Langkawi, Penang, Port Klang, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching with customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) complex but none could cater for larger cruise ships that could bring in thousands of tourists," he said.
He added that investment in such facilities were needed in order for the ocean cruise tourism to flourish in Malaysia.
The country has a great potential to be a leading cruise tourism player as it is surrounded by sea and coastline, and has rivers and lakes.
There must be a concerted effort between the industry experts and government to maximise the resources available, he said.
Hasan said the tourism industry has been the prime contributor to the socio-economic development and was the second largest foreign exchange earner after manufactured goods.
For January to April this year, Malaysia received 9.26 million tourists, a 9.9 per cent increase from the same period last year.
For Visit Malaysia Year 2014, the country aimed to achieve 28 million international tourists arrivals with RM76 billion in tourist receipts, while for Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015, it targeted 29.4 million tourists and RM89 billion in tourist receipts, he added.