GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government is planning to increase its market share of Indian tourists through a collaboration with a popular Indian TV channel.
The 17 million viewers of AAJ Tak TV will get an opportunity to see Penang’s best attractions to be featured in a special programme at the end of June.
The programme showcasing the best of Penang was shot from May 31 to June 4 by a crew. The crew included AAJ Tak TV show editor Amit Tyagi and Indian celebrity couple Nishant Malkani and Gia Manek.
Both Nishant and Gia are well known television stars back home having starred in many top drama series in India.Both TV stars will be promoting Penang through the channel to their Hindi-speaking audience mainly in India, Britain, the Middle East and Asia.
The collaboration was announced by Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau chief executive officer Ashwin Gunasekaran in the presence of Penang Tourism Development, Arts, Culture, and Heritage Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin on June 4.
“We are confident that the number of leisure and business tourists from India will increase and the collaboration with AAJ Tak will further promote and help boost the publicity and awareness of Penang.“There were 43,537 Indian tourists who visited Penang last year, although there were no direct flights,” said Ashwin in his speech at the event.
Amit said the coverage of Penang would air as part of AAJ Tak’s one-hour travel show called Saas Bahu Aur Betiyaan.
“It has a Bollywood-type format with dance and songs featuring Nishant and Gia, who are famous TV stars,” he said.
Yeoh in his address said the state was very serious in making a permanent name as a top tourist destination in the Indian market.
“This effort by having AAJ Tak’s crew and India’s famous TV stars in Penang is also another strategy to showcase the state further to the Indian market,” he said.
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