JOHOR BARU: The extension of the Visit Johor 2026 campaign to next year is expected to be announced in detail by Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi next month, says a state executive councillor.
State unity, heritage and culture committee chairman P. Pannir Selvam said it would be officially announced by Onn Hafiz during the Johor Budget 2027 presentation scheduled for Nov 19.
“This is to give way to more promotion on our tourism products, as most of the upgrading projects and construction works were only completed in the middle and second half of this year.
“The extension of the campaign is also in line with Visit Malaysia 2026, which has been extended until the end of next year,” he said after the Visit Johor 2026 town hall session with industry players at a hotel here yesterday.
He added that discussion about the extension is still ongoing and details such as tourism products and further plans would be revealed during the state budget presentation by Onn Hafiz.
Pannir Selvam said the extension proposal came from industry players requesting more time to weather global economic pressures and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, as both had increased airfares and disrupted travel.
Earlier during the town hall session, Onn Hafiz said the state government had poured RM187mil into building and upgrading of the state’s tourism products such as the Johor Zoo, Danga Park, Muzium Tokoh Johor, Sultan Abu Bakar Heritage Complex and Kampung Sungai Melayu.
He said the state is expected to spend at least another RM50mil next year to further improve its tourism products.
“Johor has recorded 4.7 million overnight visitors from January to June and we are on track to meet our goal of hitting 12 million overnight visitors for this year.
“The state government wants to extend the Visit Johor 2026 campaign to next year and we hope this will benefit our economic and tourism sectors,” he said in his opening speech.
Onn Hafiz also urged tourism players to take this opportunity to iron out issues and improve their communications and services to be better equipped to welcome tourists.
He added that next year is also significant to Johor as the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, connecting Johor Baru and Singapore by rail, is expected to start operating in February.
At its peak, the RTS Link has a capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
