In support of inbound tourism
Visa has announced its partnership with Mid Valley Megamall. At the event, (from left) Ng, Tourism Malaysia Package Development Division director Syed Yahya Syed Othman, Tourism Malaysia Package Development Division Secretariat Shopping Malaysia head, Norliza Md Zain and Mid Valley City chief executive officer Daniel Yong.
KUALA LUMPUR: In support of Visit Malaysia 2020, and its target of achieving 30 million international tourist arrivals, Visa has unrolled a series of initiatives to promote inbound tourism.
“We have year-long promotions and offers in various parts of Malaysia including Klang Valley, Johor Baru and Penang. Visa cardholders can enjoy discounts and benefits at family attractions such as Legoland, Desaru Coast Adventure Waterpark, and KidZania, other outlets like BH Petrol and Swarovski, as well as hospitals such as ParkCity Medical Centre and Subang Jaya Medical Centre,” says Visa country manager for Malaysia, Ng Kong Boon.
Aside from establishing partnerships with such attractions, hotels and dining outlets, the company has also established tie-ups with major shopping malls to roll out attractive promotions in an effort to play its part in promoting Visit Malaysia 2020.
To this end, Visa has announced its partnership with Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur recently on Dec 12. Being the world’s leader in digital payments, this partnership seeks to encourage tourists to use digital payment for their purchases during the festive season.
With this campaign Visa cardholders can make payment with their contactless card for purchases made at Mid Valley Megamall here and The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey, Johor Baru, to be eligible for redemption gifts. To sweeten the deal, when they shop on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and on the eve of public holidays and on public holidays, they will also receive eco-friendly metal straws and pans as giveaways for transactions about RM200 and RM350 respectively.
For the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration, Visa and Mid Valley will be introducing another campaign from Jan 5, 2020 to Feb 2, 2020 where Visa cardholders will receive Toys “R” Us vouchers when they spend minimum RM350 with their contactless cards.
Ng notes a tremendous growth in adoption of digital payment.
Visa cardholders in Melaka are also in for a treat as Visa has also partnered with Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall, Terminal Pahlawan and Hatten Square. From now till Jan 2, 2020 Visa cardholders will receive a specially designed Barbie canvas shopping bag when they spend minimum RM300 using their contactless cards.
According to Ng, this is part of the effort to propel adoption of digital payment, which has seen a tremendous growth due to the introduction of e-wallets. Furthermore, digital payments are a more convenient and safe way to making payment, as no physical cash is involved and tourists do not need to walk around with a big amount of local currency.
“Many people have the impression that the exchange rate applied when using their cards to make payment in a foreign currency is not as good as what they can get at a money changer. However, this is not necessarily true, as the exchange rate offered by the banks are just as competitive.
“We are extremely excited to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination, especially to our neighbours in Asia Pacific. Based on our data, Singaporeans, Indonesians and the Chinese are the top spenders when they travel to Malaysia. During this festive period, we are partnering with malls frequented by tourists to encourage them to use their payment cards, particularly contactless payments, when they make their purchases here. These promotions are designed to help boost tourism spend as part of the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign, “ Ng said.
~The Star~
Tuba Island to be turned into travel hotspot
The Rural Development Ministry intends to turn Tuba Island here into one of the rural tourism destinations for the northern states.
For a start, it would focus on upgrading projects in Desa Keda Teluk Berembang with an allocation of RM2mil to develop the infrastructure there, said its minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.
“We want to paint the houses around here in bright colours to make them more colourful and livelier, and of course we want to help increase the income of residents, ” she said.
She said that some sectors could be developed for tourism.
“We will start at Kampung Teluk Berembang first and then we will extend to the whole of Tuba Island, ” she told reporters after a working visit to the island yesterday.
Rina said there were a number of tourism products on the island, including sea products that could be used to make handicraft apart from keropok lekor and fish farming.
There are nearly 5,000 residents from seven villages living on Tuba Island, which is located about 5km from the Kuah jetty.A total of 40 houses in Desa Keda Teluk Berembang are involved in the Colourful House project. — Bernama
Nasi Goreng Pattaya, or simply nasi pattaya, is a Southeast Asian fried rice dish made by covering or wrapping chicken fried rice, in thin fried egg or omelette. Despite its name, the dish is believed to originate from Malaysia, and today is also commonly found in Indonesia and Singapore. It is often served with chili sauce, tomato ketchup, slices of cucumber, and keropok. ~wikipedia~
A friendlier Immigration experience Immigration officers will be taught basic Mandarin and other essential languages in an effort to provide a friendlier service at the country’s entry points. Besides easing communication, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud (pic) said the move was also made in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign. “As part of our ongoing effort to improve the Immigration Department, we want to enhance our counter service, especially at the KLIA (KL International Airport) and other airports. “Our officers must provide a friendly service because they are our visitors’ first impression of the country when they arrive. “Those who are stationed at counters will be taught a basic level of Mandarin and other languages to help ease communication, ” he said in an interview ahead of the Immigration Department Day celebrations today. Khairul Dzaimee, who took over the helm of the department in January this year, said one of his focus areas was personal development for all his officers. “For me, training and upskilling of our officers is a very important aspect. “This year, we increased the training period for our cadet officers to four months. “As for existing officers, they, too, will be required to attend intensive courses to improve themselves, ” he said. He also spoke on instilling integrity among Immigration officers. “My wish is for the Immigration Department to be an enforcement agency that is respected by all because of the integrity of our officers, ” he added. Besides training, Khairul Dzaimee said the department would also beef up its enforcement operations. “When I inherited the department, we already had a policy where there is no day without an enforcement operation. “I continued that policy and we intend to increase it further. “With the Back For Good (B4G) amnesty programme ending on Dec 31, we will ensure that on Jan 1 we will go ahead with our enforcement efforts on a massive scale. “There will be no compromise for illegal immigrants who are caught after the programme, ” he said. Khairul Dzaimee also said the department did not intend to extend the deadline of the Back For Good programme. “As we are approaching the deadline, we see the queues at the Immigration Department getting longer and we expect this to increase further. “To accommodate this, we have extended our operating hours from 5pm to 10pm on weekdays. We also open on Saturdays until 3pm. “However, the Home Ministry has made it clear that there will be no extension of the Dec 31 deadline, ” he added. The B4G programme was introduced this year as an effort to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the country. Under the programme, illegal immigrants are allowed to return home without punishment as long as they pay a RM700 compound and can produce flight tickets. On the Immigration Department Day celebrations, Khairul Dzaimee said for the first time, the department would honour outstanding officers with medals. The department would also be giving out a special award to an individual for his lifelong contribution to the department. ~The Star~
