Melaka partners with travel agencies in the Philippines to attract 120,000 tourists next year

MELAKA: The Melaka state government has partnered with 80 Filipino travel agencies to attract about 120,000 tourists from the country next year in conjunction with the Visit Melaka Year 2024.

State Tourism, Heritage, Arts and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman said this was done through the tourism campaign in Manila and Davao from May 21 to 26.

"We will work with 50 travel agencies in Manila and 30 agencies in Davao,” he told reporters on Saturday (May 27).

He was met after the opening ceremony of the Gegau Seni Budaya @ Melaka Programme, graced by Melaka Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Mohd Ali Rustam at Panggung Seri, Melaka National Department for Culture and Arts Complex here.

Elaborating, he said various attractive tourism packages would be offered by industry players in the state to the foreign travel agencies involved to attract tourists from the Philippines.

Abdul Razak also said that the campaign to promote Visit Melaka Year 2024 in South East Asia would be extended to Brunei and Indonesia in addition to European and Middle Eastern countries to reach the target of 8.4 million tourists to Melaka next year.

In another development, he said the Panggung Seri would be closed for six months starting in June to make way for maintenance work to be carried out by the Public Works Department.

Commenting on the Gegau Seni Budaya @ Melaka programme, he said it aims to conserve the traditional heritage treasures, thus contributing to the state economy.

Various talent acquisition programmes and competitions had been lined up for the two-day programme, including Juara Pantun, Gasing Challenge, ‘Colours of Malaysia’ Performance: Cak Kun Cak The Musical, Miss Grand Kebaya Cilik and a Cosplay event.- Bernama