Ng feeding sunflower seeds to parrots, watched by FITC chief executive officer Datuk Allan Phoon (left) in Seri Kembangan. — LOW LAY PHON/The Star
SELANGOR is planning to hold a New Year’s eve countdown event to kick-start Visit Selangor Year 2025, says an exco member.
State local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim said the event would also see the launch of a new logo, all of which are part of efforts to draw more tourists for VSY2025.
He said the location of the New Year’s Eve countdown event would be announced nearer to the date.
Speaking at a press conference before going on a tour of Farm In The City (FITC), a petting zoo in Seri Kembangan, Ng said 70% of tourists visiting Selangor were Malaysians, with foreigners making up the rest.
Ng aims to change this, saying that his goal is to convince tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to stay in Selangor for at least one night.
“We are targeting between eight and 10 million domestic and international tourists for VSY2025,” he added.
Selangor attracted 6.54 million tourists in 2023.
Ng said marketing of tourism attractions in the state should take place on both domestic and international levels.
He said the post-Covid-19 tourism trend showed that people like to travel solo or in small groups and preferred to make their own (sightseeing) arrangements.
Industry players would need to find a way to attract these travellers as well, he added.
Ng said tourism was one of the businesses that could generate a quick return of investment, compared to other types of commercial ventures.
“In tourism, an announcement for a product or destination made today will attract visitors by the following month,” he added.
Citing FITC as an example, he said it had received 2,500 tourists from China following a collaboration with a tour company.
Ng said he hopes that this success story would inspire other operators of tourist attractions to persevere in their efforts.
“In terms of incentives, the state government has platforms like Tourism Selangor and Tourism Malaysia that work closely with each other when it comes to overseas promotion missions.
“We will invite industry players to take part, so that they may network with tour agents from other countries to foster productive partnerships,” he said.
At present, Ng said the highest number of international tourists to Selangor were from Singapore, followed by China, Indonesia, Japan, India and the Middle East.
