High hopes for Terengganu's Tasik Kenyir

Tourists enjoying a cruise at Tasik Kenyir recently. — Bernama

The Terengganu state government is confident of achieving its target of attracting 300,000 tourists to Tasik Kenyir by the end of this year.

State Tourism, Culture, Environment and Climate Change Committee chairman Datuk Razali Idris said a total of 141,487 tourists have visited Tasik Kenyir as of July.

“Although the monsoon season is almost here, the target can still be achieved since Tasik Kenyir is an attraction, especially among anglers,” he told the State Legislative Assembly sitting at Kuala Terengganu earlier this week.

He said this when replying to a question by Mohd Zawawi Ismail (PAS-Telemong), who wanted to know the total number of visitors to Tasik Kenyir and what measures are taken by the state government to boost the tourism sector.

Rizal said there was a drastic drop in the number of tourists visiting Tasik Kenyir, from 607,398 in 2019 to 208,097 in 2020.However, he said that in 2021, the number of tourists rose to 277,969 before dropping again to 246,896 in 2022.

“The drastic drop was due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the organisation of various events in the area, we are confident that the tourism sector in Kenyir will be back to its previous robust level,” he said.

Tourism guidelines

Meanwhile, the Terengganu government has also been urged to take more aggressive measures in strengthening the Tourism Guidelines, especially involving Muslims.

Ladang state assemblyman, Zuraida Md Noor said this is because of a violation of the dress code involving Muslim female tourists who were seen wearing revealing attire such as shorts, and singlets with no headscarf in public places.

She said it violates the Tourism Guidelines that were launched together with the Guidelines for Entertainment, Cultural Performances and Sports that require Muslim female tourists to wear decent attire that covers their aurat (areas of the body that should be covered to protect their modesty).

“I witnessed female Muslim tourists shamelessly wearing shorts, singlets, and no hijab. More and more people are daring to wear revealing clothes to visit our tourist spots.

“There are two possibilities here, either there are still many who do not know about the guidelines issued by the state government or they know but chose to disobey due to lack of enforcement,” she said during a debate session at the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly sitting recently. Zuraida urged that syariah-compliant monitoring be carried out throughout the state including in hotels, islands, resorts, entertainment centres, cinemas and so on.

She added that the effort is part of the Islamic propagation agenda and the state government’s commitment towards a developed, blessed and prosperous Terengganu.

“Furthermore, Terengganu’s tourism industry has also been recognised as a Muslim-friendly destination through the Islamic Quality Standard Award (IQS) by the Universal Crescent Standard Centre.

“It is a catalyst to show Terengganu as an international Islamic tourism corridor and global Islamic destination hub,” she said.

Waiting game

Elsewhere, the Melaka state government is expecting a response from seven commercial airlines regarding its invitation to operate at the Melaka International Airport (LTAM) in Batu Berendam, no later than the end of October.

State Public Works, Infrastructure, Public Amenities and Transport Committee chairman Datuk Hameed Mytheen Kunju Basheer said discussions had been held with the airlines including AirAsia and Batik Air.

“They need time to consider the offer as there are terms and conditions specified in the offer agreement,” he said at the Melaka International Air Carnival opening ceremony at LTAM, recently.

Hameed said the agreement was essential to ensure the airlines that have agreed to operate at LTAM could commit to their operations and not terminate their services indiscriminately.

He said among the routes the state government had proposed to the airlines are the old routes, Penang and Kota Baru, Kelantan for domestic flights and Pekanbaru, Indonesia for international flights, in addition to the new route to Padang, Indonesia. – Bernama