‘Making Johor Baru more than a transit city’

Tengku Ahmad Rosdi says the tourism sector must go beyond seasonal promotions.

JOHOR government needs to step up efforts to attract foreign and local visitors to the state.

Angsana Malay Traders Association chairman Tengku Ahmad Rosdi Tengku Abdullah said the state government and Tourism Johor should be more aggressive in their promotion efforts.

“We need to acknowledge that Johor Baru is often just a ‘transit city’ for Singaporeans travelling to Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor during weekends and holidays.

“This is why we have issues like shopping centres closing in the city due to low footfall.

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“Even Angsana is only busy during the Hari Raya season,” he said.

Ongoing promotion, he said, was essential as hotels and malls operate daily and need to generate income to sustain their businesses.

“We must go beyond seasonal promotions and expand our efforts so that places like Desaru and Mersing, which also have many hotels, attract visitors even during the off-peak season.

“We are losing out to places like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia’s Batam, even though we offer similar experiences,” he said.

Raja Selan: Congestion around Johor Baru city centre needs to be addressed.

Tengku Ahmad Rosdi said the government could turn ehailing drivers, taxi drivers and bus drivers into ambassadors for Johor Baru.

“We should also place more tourism information centres at all entry points in Johor so that tourists have real-time information instead of just reading reviews online,” he added.

Arulmigu Rajamariamman Devasthanam temple chairman V. Raja Selan said the main issue the government needed to address was congestion around Johor Baru city centre.

“We have many tourist spots in the city centre, including the Indian Heritage Centre and Johor Baru Chinese Heritage Museum.

“Both places tell the story of how different communities came to the city and the history of some of Johor Baru’s founding fathers.

“However, these areas are often congested, deterring visitors,” he said, suggesting that roads like Jalan Ungku Puan should be turned into one-way streets with more enforcement to prevent double-parking.

Raja Selan said the temple receives some 600 visitors on weekends and 100 on weekdays, including international tourists.

He said the temple planned to organise a chariot procession around the city centre on Aug 6.

Lim says the government should promote Chinese new villages as tourism products.

JB Heritage Walk chairman Lim Kiong Meng, when contacted, said the government should promote Chinese new villages.

“I believe the Johor Baru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, which will be completed in 2026, will bring in more short-term travellers.

“We have about 20 Chinese new villages in Johor Baru, Pasir Gudang, Iskandar Puteri and Kulai which we can turn into tourism products promoting local Chinese culture.

“We can designate these villages as cultural tourism centres so visitors can experience life there,” he said, adding that the government had spent millions upgrading the villages with various amenities.

Lim also suggested the state government organise more durian exhibitions.

“We can gather durian farmers in Johor Baru to sell their harvests, allowing Singaporean customers to spend more time and money in the city.”

He also urged the state to address the issue of flash floods in the city, which is a major cause of traffic congestion, especially during the rainy season. — By REMAR NORDIN