Crowd-puller: Locals and visitors watching renowned Japanese musician Kitaro performing at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching. — ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE /The Star
Tiong: M’sia can one-up others in the region if we work at it
KUALA LUMPUR: Concerts are among the attractions that could woo visitors to the country, says Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said that in the face of strong competition from neighbouring countries, music events could be one of the key tourism products to market the country.
“All these concerts are crucial. We have to coordinate with other ministries to see how we can work it out,” he said in an interview.
Tiong added that events like music festivals and concerts need to have adequate space to be “meaningful”, citing the renowned Rainforest World Music Festival held annually in Kuching as a case in point.
“The event venue is currently too small to accommodate the high number of participants and tourists.
“We need to look at this, not just for the Rainforest Festival but also for other concerts. We want to bring in foreign visitors to our concerts in Malaysia.
“There is a lot of competition, and we need to work closely with the media and social media to achieve our goals,” said Tiong, who is a Sarawakian and the Bintulu MP.
Meanwhile, the minister called for improvements to infrastructure and safety measures at tourist resorts in Sabah.
“In places like Sabah, many issues need to be resolved.
“We want these resorts to operate effectively and have proper infrastructure in place,” Tiong said.
He also noted the importance of these places being equipped with medical facilities.
“If someone gets bitten by a snake in the middle of the night, how are they going to get treatment if there are no basic medical facilities on the island? It could be fatal,” he said.
Food and water safety, too, is essential to the well-being of tourists, he said.
“The quality of food and water must improve,” he added.
Malaysia’s tourism recorded a healthy growth in the first half of 2024, with tourist arrivals rising by 28.9% to 11.8 million, from 9.2 million in the same period in 2023.
Foreign visitor arrivals have recovered to 88.4% of pre-pandemic levels from 2019.
The country has also seen higher foreign tourist spending from January to June, increasing by 50.8% to RM45.4bil compared with the same period last year.
