Govt to spend RM80mil to promote Malaysia in the region

PUTRAJAYA: The Government will spend RM80mil to intensify promotional activities in selected tourism markets such as Asean, China and India.

The additional allocation is one of the several initiatives announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday to further boost the tourism sector.

He said group tourists from China would be exempted from visa between Oct 1 and March 31 next year to woo more visitors from the country.

“Subsequently, the e-visa system will be introduced to facilitate the issuing of visas to tourists from countries with the most visitors to Malaysia,” he said at the Perdana Putra Building here.

Najib said the Government would also develop national iconic products, including rejuvenating the National Museum, National Monu­ment and Perdana Lake Gardens.

“The connectivity between these places and KL Sentral will be improved at a cost of RM1.1bil.

“This is to realise the potential of cultural and heritage-based tourism and will be implemented through the Public-Private Sharing concept.

“The initiative will be carried out next year with RM220mil in funding” he said.

Najib said another project was the Desaru Coast Destination Resort in Johor, an integrated development consisting hotel, water theme park, conference centre and shopping mall, the first phase of which would cost RM4.5bil.

The Star reported in July that Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) had announced that it had bagged three construction jobs worth RM485mil in Desaru Coast, Johor, from Destination Resorts and Hotel.

The first phase of multi-billion-ringgit Desaru Coast features four premium resorts – Aman Country Club and Aman Villas, Datai Desaru, Sheraton Resort and Plantation Hotel.

The whole Desaru Coast development, stretching 17km over 3,900 acres, is estimated to take 15 to 20 years to complete.