Tourism Malaysia ties up with Expedia PUTRAJAYA: Tourism Malaysia has inked a deal with American travel company Expedia Group which will see both sides collaborate to boost tourism promotion to Malaysia. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the partnership with Expedia will help support Malaysia’s target of achieving 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil tourist spending by 2020. “Malaysia has just launched its fifth instalment of the Visit Malaysia series, Visit Malaysia 2020, and this is a timely strategic partnership which will benefit all parties. “Expedia Group, as many of you would know, has over 200 travel booking websites in more than 70 countries around the world and work with thousands of lodging and flight partners to cater to the differing needs of modern travellers today. “This partnership will collectively promote travel to Malaysia hence helping us grow our tourism arrival and income, empower our hospitality industry to be equipped with the right tools and services to help them grow their business locally, and be seen as a beacon in the sustainable tourism space, ” said Mohamaddin in his speech at the signing ceremony of the new collaboration, held at his ministry yesterday. Mohamaddin said one of the agreements between Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group will be focused on several global campaigns to promote inbound travel from the United States, Australia and Japan to Malaysia. The three countries are among the biggest points of sale for Expedia Group. “This partnership will see a joint execution of destination marketing campaigns to spotlight Malaysia’s hidden and unique tourist attractions as well as promote the variety of accommodation to Expedia Group’s 750 million plus monthly visitors globally, ” said Mohamaddin. The collaboration will also see Expedia Group and Tourism Malaysia exchanging traveller insights, to help better understand tourist behaviours and home tourism strategies in line with the implementation of Visit Malaysia. Expedia Group senior vice-president of commercial strategy and services Greg Schulze said the company found Malaysia to be a “progressively thinking destination” and was committed to help expose the country to travellers around the world. “Tourism is an important contributor to Malaysia’s economy, accounting for almost 14.9% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and 3.4 million jobs. “As a world travel platform, Expedia Group is proud to be an online travel tourism partner to Tourism Malaysia, connecting Malaysia’s tourism industry to millions of travellers in our worldwide network, ” he said. Among the travel websites under Expedia Group include Expedia.com, Trivago and Hotels.com. ~The Star~
Air quality worsens slightly in the country The air quality in Peninsular Malaysia has worsened slightly with Rompin in Pahang Air Pollutant Index (API) readings jumping from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” zone. According to Department of Environment (DOE) data, the API recorded in Rompin was at 223 as at 4pm, yesterday. On Saturday, Rompin’s API was “unhealthy” at 125. Conditions in Kuala Lumpur remained at moderate levels during the weekend, with the API at between 65 and 67. In Selangor, Johan Setia saw a slight increase in the API readings. The reading recorded was at 95 compared to 92 on Saturday. Other areas in Selangor such as in Banting (82), Petaling Jaya (81), and Shah Alam (83) maintained its “moderate” readings. The API readings in Kedah and Perlis also worsened from “good” to “moderate”, while Sabah maintained its “good” API readings. Other places nationwide such as in Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perak, Penang, Kelantan and Terengganu recorded “moderate” API levels. Meanwhile, in Sarawak, Sri Aman posted an API reading of 252 and generally the haze situation here and in Miri is still bad. The API reading worsened compared to Saturday which was at 247. The air quality in SK Kuala Baram 2 station and the Miri Industrial Training Institute station both improved. SK Kuala Baram 2 station recorded an API reading of 80 from 119, while the Miri Industrial Training Institute station recorded a reading of 161 from 222. As of yesterday morning, the DOE recorded one “hot spot” (forest fire) in Sarawak An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good, while 51 to 100 is moderate, 01 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above is deemed hazardous. The public can also refer to the Department of Environment (DoE) website at or by downloading the MyIPU smartphone app on ‘Google Play’ to get hourly API readings According to the Asean Specialised Meterological Centre (ASMC) weather and haze outlook posted on Saturday at 6.25pm, it noted that hotspot activities in Sumatra and Kalimantan are likely to persist in the country. ASMC’s satellite monitoring system has also indicated in recent times that open burning is also coming from that direction. ~News courtesy of The Star~
A passion for porcupines prompts man to start Sik zoo
Fascinated by porcupines, Mahadzir Abd Hamid, 44, started a Landak Raya (Malayan porcupine) Sanctuary and Breeding Centre in Kampung Tala, Jeneri in 2017 and recently added a mini zoo as well.
He told reporters that to get going on the sanctuary wasn’t easy because first and foremost, one would need a Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) permit. Of the mini zoo which opened about three months ago with 30 porcupines, he said: "I built it to enable people to get a closer look at a creature some may have not seen before.”
“What’s special is no entry fee is charged and visitors get to learn about how porcupines are bred and fed, with offspring kept in a separate enclosure,” he said of the attraction which largely draws visitors during the school holidays.
“At first I had three porcupines and rearing them was just a hobby. Then, when I learnt about their potential and in order to protect them from extinction, I decided to add to the number.
“Alhamdulillah, all of them are healthy and breeding well,” he said of the sanctuary where over 100 of the prickly creatures can be found and which is open to the public every day except Friday.
-- BERNAMA
Hot and dry weather in M'sia until October, says the weatherman
KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): Malaysia is expected to experience hot and dry weather with less rainfall until October, says Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis. She said apart from Malaysia, neighbouring countries Singapore and Sumatra in Indonesia are expected to experience the same weather pattern. "We expect to experience a shortage of rainfall with warmer and drier weather this year without the El Nino and La Nina phenomena until October, " she said when asked about the essence of the 21st Technical Working Group (TWG) Meeting and the Ministerial Steering Committee Sub-Region on Cross-border Haze Pollution in Brunei. She said this when contacted on the Bernama News Channel (BNC) talk showroom programme here Wednesday (Aug 7) night. Commenting on the meeting, Isnaraissah said the five countries involved had presented measures taken to address fires and haze in their respective countries. "Among the information shared was to carry out continuous monitoring of weather and hotspots, enforce the law and have the equipment prepared, mobilise human resources and co-ordinate fire-fighting, " she said. The annual meeting involving four other Asean countries, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, was held to monitor and detail the steps taken in addressing cross-border haze. The initiative to address the Asean haze problem began following a serious episode of pollution in 1997 that led to the Asean Convention on cross-border haze signed by 10 countries in Kuala Lumpur on June 10, 2002. - Bernama
Tourism Langkawi, Malindo Air to launch promotion to lure tourists from Phuket
Tourism Langkawi, a local tourism development organisation, in collaboration with Malindo Air, will launch a promotion to introduce tourism products and hotel accommodation offered by its members, to lure tourists from Phuket to the island, next month.
Langkawi Tourism president Ahmad Phisol Ishak said Malindo Air’s Langkawi-Phuket-Langkawi direct flights had opened up a huge opportunity for the island’s tourism sector as it would ease the travel of visitors.
“Fifteen members of Langkawi Tourism comprising travel agents, hotel and tourism product operators are joining forces with Malindo Air to launch the promotion at Langkawi International Airport on Sept 2. “We want to take this opportunity to attract more tourists from Phuket. During the launching ceremony, representatives from 10 travel agents and three media organisations in Thailand will also be flown in as part of the promotion.”
He said this when met after chairing a meeting with Malindo Air's North and Central Malaysia manager Arasu Soundarajan and members of Tourism Langkawi at Ombak Villa Langkawi here today.
Ahmad Phisol said the promotion was also being held as a result of positive feedback received by the organisation following the Tourism Langkawi products engagement mission in Phuket from July 19-22.
“The mission was very successful, Tourism Langkawi with Malindo Air received positive feedback on what we were able to offer as a result of the meeting with 25 travel agents there. Furthermore, we see Phuket as an attraction not only for Thai tourists but also from Europe and China,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Arasu Soundarajan said the airlines hoped the cooperation and the promotion would increase the number of passengers on its Langkawi-Phuket-Langkawi sector.
“We hope to push our load through this collaboration with the marketing support from Tourism Langkawi. Through this campaign, we can offer special fares to travel agents offering hotel packages,” he said.
Malindo Air has been offering flights for the Langkawi-Phuket-Langkawi sector every Monday, Wednesday and Friday since March.
-- BERNAMA
Haze situation under control despite dry spell The haze situation appears to be under control despite the dry spell as the Air Pollutant Index (API) has not reached unhealthy levels in any parts of Malaysia. In fact, good air quality was recorded in Kota Tinggi, Johor (API reading 50), Tawau, Sabah (46) and Limbang, Sarawak (47) at 6pm yesterday. Air quality in other parts of Malaysia was at a moderate level. An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good while 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above deemed hazardous. National Weather and Geophysics Operations Centre director Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the air quality would return to normal soon as Indonesia had succeeded in its aggressive initiative to douse the raging forest fires. He also noted that the two low-pressure cyclones in the West Pacific and the northern part of South China Sea would further suck the atmospheric moisture. Several west coast states in the peninsula and Sarawak are also facing the haze following forest fires at six districts in Indonesia over the last four days. The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) warned that more hotspots could be expected in the first two weeks of August, particularly in the fire-prone provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, following warmer and drier than average conditions forecast over the southern Asean region. In the northern Asean region, hotspot activities are expected to remain subdued due to prevailing rainy conditions, according to ASMC. ~News courtesy of The Star~
