Nolee (back row, second from right) in a lantern procession held in conjunction with the Mid-Autumn Festival during the opening of Teluk Intan Festival 2022.
Perak plans to promote new tourist attractions in the riverine town of Teluk Intan apart from its already famous leaning clock tower.
Among projects planned are a street art lane at Jalan Wah Keng Looi, upgrading the Giant Freshwater Prawn Square and enhancing the facilities at Stork Island, also known as Pulau Bangau.
Perak tourism committee chairman Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi hoped that these projects would attract tourists to stay overnight to boost the local economy.
“Teluk Intan is famous for its leaning clock tower, but it is not enough to get tourists to stay overnight.
“Based on our data, 50,687 people visited the leaning tower from January to August this year, while 17,254 people visited Stork Island, but most of them did not stay overnight,” she noted.
She said the facilities at the clock tower and the square would be upgraded.
These include installing a map and setting up a tourist information centre at the square.
“The construction of the information centre will be under the 12th Malaysia Plan with an allocation of RM6mil,” said Nolee.
“It is still in the application process.
“If the allocation is approved, the information centre can effectively promote more tourism products that are considered hidden gems in the Hilir Perak district.
“These products include cruises on Sungai Perak and to see the fireflies, heritage trails and popular food products,” she added.
Nolee said the RM160,000 floating jetty project at Stork Island under the state Economy Stimulant Package had been completed.
“Our main aim is to get tourists to stay over in Teluk Intan,” she said when opening the inaugural Teluk Intan Festival 2022 at the leaning clock tower square.
The three-day festival, held from Sept 16 to 18, was jointly hosted by Teluk Intan Tourism Association and Teluk Intan Municipal Council.
Activities and programmes for visitors included a run, art exhibitions, lantern procession, cultural activities, busking competition and Nyonya kuih-making demonstrations.
Also present at the launch were Teluk Intan Tourism Association chairman Fong Seow Kai Chuan, Hilir Perak district officer Saidi Shaari, Changkat Jong assemblyman Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, Pasir Bedamar assemblyman RN Terence Naidu and Tourism Perak Bhd chief executive officer Nurmalis Musa.
In her welcoming speech, Fong said the district had plenty of tourism products to offer.
“These include our eco-tourism sites, rich historical heritage and food.“We hope to collaborate more with others to develop the tourism industry here.
“This will create more job opportunities for the youth, improve their socio-economic status and stop them from migrating away from here,” she said, hoping that the festival could be held annually.
