Good response to travel carnival

Amiruddin (second from left) with Syed Abdul Rahman (left), Tourism Malaysia deputy director (promotion) Datuk Sri Abdul Khani Daud (second from right) and MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang (right) as he visits the booths at the MATTA Fair Selangor Carnival 2018.

THOUSANDS of travel buffs enjoyed great deals at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair Selangor Carnival 2018 in Serdang.

The three-day event held at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang offered attractive holiday deals for destinations in Selangor and other states as well as overseas.

There were also booths promoting activities for the family at various destinations.

For example, the Farm in the City booth had live reptiles from snakes to lizards which visitors could touch while the Mah Meri group from Pulau Carey showed off their handicraft and wood carvings at their booth.

Among those stopping at these booths to take photos were Nurul Shazwani Md Zaidi and her cousins.

Nurul Shazwani said she was at the carnival to look for family packages as well as a honeymoon destination for herself.

Her uncle, Mohd Fadil Md Zain, was seen picking up pamphlets for children’s activities.

Cultural dancers performing during the launch of the MATTA Fair Selangor Carnival 2018 at MAEPS in Serdang. — Photos: AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

“The carnival is good. I hope it will be bigger with more deals next year,” he said.

Also available were food trucks selling delicacies from the various Malaysian states.

MATTA Fair Selangor Chapter chairman Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Al Habshi said 63 companies had taken up 150 booths at the carnival.

“We had about 7,200 visitors on the first day and targeted 65,000 people throughout the carnival,” said he said, adding that the travel sector was the second biggest contributor to Selangor’s economy.

Syed Abdul Rahman said the carnival also served as a platform for entrepreneurs in Selangor to increase their revenue and reintroduce their businesses to visitors.

MATTA, he said, hoped to continue promoting Selangor by bringing back the carnival next year.

Selangor Culture, Tourism, Malay Customs and Heritage Comittee chairman Datuk Abdul Rashid Asari said there was hope to push Selangor tourism to a higher level locally through the carnival.

Thousands thronging the carnival over the weekend to get attractive holiday packages.

“We are targetting 7.5 million domestic and international tourists to Selangor.

“In the first quarter of the year, we had 12% increase in tourists arrivals as compared to the same period last year,” he said.

Abdul Rashid said the state government would explore new initiatives and strategies to promote domestic tourism, with exciting activities to encourage tourists to extend their stay in Selangor.

One of it is running a host community programme where locals train as hosts for tourists to share their culture and traditions.

The carnival was launched by Mentri Besar Amiruddin Shari, who said the state governent hoped that such carnivals would help promote Selangor as a tourism and cultural hub.

“Selangor is not just a place for work and meetings because it is rich in natural resources like the fireflies in Kuala Selangor.

“Events like these our economic development. In Selangor, 20 to 30% of our economic development are based on production while the rest of our income comes from the service industry and the tourism industry is one of it,” Amiruddin said.