Nazri manning the excavator at the groundbreaking ceremony of Hilton Hotel at I-City in Shah Alam. On the right is I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is one of the best way to promote tourism, as the participants’ ten-year visa free entry will encourage them to visit Malaysia multiple times, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

He pointed out that the government has been working with the Bank Negara Malaysia to verify the financial capability of the applicants, and has also appointed many developers as agents.

Stating that participants of MM2H who buy properties in Malaysia will probably spend more money in Malaysia in the long run, the minister cited i-City development by I-Bhd as one of the best examples of the private sector helping to promote the country’s tourism industry.

“The government has provided soft loans, incentive and tax allowance to help the private sector to develop tourism products. The country needs more new tourism products to entice tourist to come to Malaysia, and this is why we appreciated i-City’s effort on tourism-related development,” said Nazri after officiating the ground breaking ceremony for the four-star Double Tree by Hilton Hotel i-city on Tuesday, April 5.

The 300-room hotel, who will complement i-City’s first hotel, Best Western i-City, Shah Alam, will be opening its door to the guest on 2018.

Nazri (right) riding the 2-tier Carousel Ride when visiting the City of Digital Lights of i-City.

It was described by Nazri as a landmark not only for the state of Selangor but also for the tourism industry in general.

Nazri further pointed out that as Malaysia has set a target of 36 million headcounts by 2020, it is important to ensure that there are sufficient rooms to accommodate our foreign guest and ample travel facilitation to meet the needs of the tourists.

“From the tourism perspective, we (i-City) have a RM1 billion tourism master plan comprising our leisure park, the Central i-City Mall, three hotels, a convention centre and a wellness hub, “ said I-Bhd deputy chairman Datuk Eu Hong Chew.

He added that the positioning of Double Tree by Hilton i-city is very much in line with i-City’s very own tourism destination milestones for 2016.

The hotel will occupy the bottom half of the building with the top half made up of serviced residences, which will be fully fitted to Hilton standard.

Nazri (middle) poses with students after the groundbreaking ceremony of Hilton i-City.

Aside from the Double tree by Hilton i-City, which is part of the Central Tower development that includes a convention centre, i-City’s other tourism destination milestones for this year include the completion of 6,500 car parks, the entry state for the “City of Digital Lights” and the launch of 8Kia Peng, King of the Hill, which boasts a single 50-storey tower on a freehold land with a gross development of RM829 million in the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre.