IPOH: Perak needs more hotels that are of high standard and encourages investment in such establishments, says tourism committee chairman Loh Sze Yee.
The Perak tourism committee chairman said these hotels need not be five-star, as long as they are comfortable and clean.
"Hotels also need good ambience.
"There should not be any mould on bathroom tiles or animal droppings along the walkways," he told a press conference after the soft launch of the Perak Tourism Awards 2024 at a hotel here on Friday (April 19).
"We can have comfortable boutique or theme hotels. It is a nice niche market," he added.
Loh said interested investors do not have to construct new buildings.
"They can take over existing ones and renovate them," he said, adding that investors could also set up glamping sites.
"The state can help them promote their hotels and this can be a win-win situation," he added.
Loh said the state tourism industry needed to raise its game.
"We have many visitors (who visit the state) three to four days a week.
"They come during weekends or public holidays.
"We want our industry to be at a level where we can attract tourists seven days a week.
"We want tourists to stay here instead of (passing through to) Penang or Kuala Lumpur," he added.
He said in order to achieve this, the state needs more quality accommodations that cater to all types of tourists.
"This include those travelling as couples, in groups, or with their families.
"We need a strong (hospitality sector) to have a good and stable tourism industry," he added.
Loh said the tourism awards ceremony, in conjunction with Visit Perak Year 2024, would be held at Casuarina@Meru Hotel on Sept 13.
"There will be 40 awards in 10 categories, including accommodation, food, products and services.
"We have a panel of five judges who will do the evaluation," he said, adding that the awards ceremony was last held in 2017.
"Nominations can be done online and it is open to all state tourism players and the public from May 1 to June 30," he added.
