The Kampung Laut Heritage Site project worth RM20mil in Kelantan has been fully completed and started receiving visitors recently.
East Coast Economic Region Development Council Project Implementation Division general manager Arizan Arifin said the 1.04ha project on the banks of Sungai Kelantan is now an attraction for local and international tourists.
He said the project involved two phases of construction, namely the first phase of Laman Warisan Serunding and the second phase, Laman Warisan Seni.
“Since its opening earlier this month, the Kampung Laut Heritage Site has received local and international tourists.
“Around 300 visitors come on weekdays and the number increases to 700 visitors on weekends. This location is very relaxing with scenic views and was built with safety features for visitors with the construction of flood barriers,” he said during a site visit recently.
Arizan added that among the attractions of the Kampung Laut Heritage Site is the 400-year-old Kampung Laut Mosque, which was relocated to its original site. It was moved 50 years ago.
“Kampung Laut Mosque is part of the phase two of Laman Warisan Seni. We are taking back this mosque, and relocating it to its original location here after 50 years in Nilam Puri. It will be relocated among the original community of Kampung Laut,” Aeizan shared, explaining that the mosque was moved earlier because of floods.
According to him, apart from that, there are also 11 shoplots in the are, with nine traders selling serunding, dodol and gelembung buaya (a traditional cake inn Kelantan) at the Laman Warisan Serunding, while Laman Warisan Seni houses a total of 12 handicraft, batik, calligraphy and kite booths. – Bernama
Largest market
Elsewhere, Malaysia remains the largest source of tourists travelling to Indonesia among the ASEAN countries, according to Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry.
In 2019, almost 2.9 million Malaysians visited the country; Singaporeans clocked in at 1.9 million tourists.
In a statement, the ministry said Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have been important and high-potential markets for Indonesia’s tourism.
Indonesia aims to attract between 1.8 and 3.6 million international visitors this year.
Incidentally, readers of the American Travel + Leisure magazine picked Ubud as one of the “top 10 world’s best cities of 2022”, even though it isn’t actually a city but just a small town in Bali.
The popular island itself was voted #3 in the “top 10 world’s best islands”, though, alongside Vietnam’s Phu Quoc at #14, Thailand’s Phuket at #7, and the Philippines’ Boracay, Palawan and Cebu islands at #9, #11 and #16, respectively.
Meanwhile, in the magazine’s “Asia” version of the awards, Langkawi, Kedah and Penang were listed as the top five and eight islands in South-East Asia, respectively.
Kuala Lumpur sits at #4 on its best cities in South-East Asia list. – Melody L. Goh
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