Tourism Malaysia: Take advantage of sweet September

PETALING JAYA: Take advantage of the multiple public holidays in September and enjoy the scenic beauty of the country on “cuti-cuti Malaysia” outings – that’s the message from Tourism Malaysia.

Its domestic and events senior director Datuk Ammar A. Ghapar said Tourism Malaysia has been actively promoting many new destinations and products through their state offices and product operators.

“What we are trying to do is to always offer new products to Malaysians so that whenever there is a long holiday, they can plan something for their families,” he said.

Ammar hoped people will also try travelling in different ways.

“For example, there are direct train services to Ipoh. It is also a way for families to experience a different mode of transportation,” he added.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said the association has been aggressively promoting domestic tourism.

“Large number of value-for-money domestic packages are sold during MATTA Fairs and also throughout the year by MATTA members,” he said.

He said popular destinations included Penang, Langkawi, Ipoh, Melaka, Terengganu, Sabah, Sarawak, Melaka and Johor.

Tan said domestic tour packages are also sold and bought online, adding that there was no “shortage” of local tour packages.

He also said MATTA organised familiarisation trips and tours nationwide for its supporting members on a regular basis for new agents or products.

There will be four major public holidays in September, after National Day on Aug 31.

The main ones are Hari Raya Haji on Sept 1, the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V on Sept 9, Malaysia Day on Sept 16 and Awal Muharram on Sept 22.

The Term 2 school holidays also started on Saturday.