IPOH: Efforts to promote Ipoh and Perak as a tourist destination are now ongoing in Thailand, says Loh Sze Yee.
The Perak tourism committee chairman said the tourism industry players in Thailand are working hard to promote Ipoh and the state, following a familiarisation trip here a few months ago.
"We brought in 30 tour operators from Thailand, including airline operators, to Perak.
"They are working on packages for Thai tourists to come," he told a press conference after opening a tour fair here on Sunday (Aug 13).
Loh called on the local tourism industry players to be prepared in welcoming the Thai tourists.
"As we are anticipating their visits, maybe we can learn a bit about their culture and some basic sentences in Thai for easy communication," he added.
Loh also said that the state was hopeful that a flight route between Bangkok and Ipoh can be established.
He said Thai AirAsia has put out a teaser video to promote Ipoh on their Instagram to gauge the response on whether a flight between Ipoh and Bangkok is viable.
"We are having our fingers crossed.
"If the response to the teaser video is not good, it will not be good for the flights," he said.
"To them, it will always be dollars and cents.
"We hope that there will be a lot of 'Likes' and 'Shares' so that it will be a sign for them," he said.
"If Perakians want that (flight route), maybe they can go and Like and Share the video.
"If there are not many responses, it will also be a sign for me that folk here do not want to fly to Bangkok," he added.
