BY IVAN LOH

Buses with the promotional logo and stickers are being used as part of the campaign to promote Visit Perak Year. – Photos: SAIFUL BAHRI/The Star

PERAK aims to attract half a million foreign tourists next year in conjunction with Visit Perak Year (VPY) 2017.

Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the state has made it a priority to focus on bringing in more foreign visitors.

“Our target is to attract a total of seven million tourists, both foreign and domestic.

“We are hoping to get 500,000 foreign visitors in next year,” he said after launching the VPY 2017 campaign near the Ipoh train station last Saturday.

Zambry flagging off the ETS train services from Ipoh to Kuala Lumpur during the launching ceremony of Visit Perak Year 2017.

“We are also looking into the European and China market.

“We are working closely with several airline companies, hoping to bring this tourists in,” he added.

Zambry also said that the state has all the right ingredients to be promoted to the world as a tourist destination.

“Some states promote their history city. Some promote beaches and tropical rainforests. But Perak has it all. It all depends how we promote the state,” he said.

“The state has beautiful beaches. Ipoh is also surrounded by limestone hills, with Chinese tourists amazed with their similarity to Guilin in China,” he added.

Visitors taking pictures with Movie Animation Park Studio characters during the launch of the campaign to Promote Visit Perak Year.

Zambry said the state needs to think out of the box to promote Perak.

“Our Royal Belum rainforest is known as the oldest tropical rainforest in the world. We have also suggested to the Federal Government to make the site a World Leaders’ Retreat,” he said.

“We are also working to extend the air strip in Gerik to allow charter flights in so more people can visit Lenggong Valley,” he added.

Zambry also said the state needs to address several issues, one of them being infrastructure, for tourism to make Visit Perak Year a success.

Visitors taking part in the morning aerobic session before the launching ceremony.

“Some areas need to have better basic facilities for tourists, including accommodation. There is also a need for better connectivity, including transportation and telecommunications at these tourist destinations,” he said.

“Another issue is cleanliness. I urge all districts to ensure public areas, including eateries and toilets, are clean,” he added.

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