By Ida Nadirah Ibrahim
BERLIN — The coronavirus outbreak has hit the global tourism industry hard, with many people around the world choosing to take a break from travelling.
Tourism Selangor, however, is not slowing down as it remains committed to contributing to the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign, while also gearing up for Visit Selangor 2021.
Selangor was one of the participating states set to showcase its tourism products at the renown international convention ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin) 2020, in Berlin, Germany, which was cancelled just days before it was due to open on March 4.
Speaking to Selangor Journal, Tourism Selangor general manager Azrul Shah Mohamad said the cancellation of the convention had not hindered his team from continuing with their plans to woo the European market.
He said small-scale Business-to-Business (B2B) sessions were held in Berlin with local tour and travel agencies, the media, and bloggers, to introduce the experiential tourism packages offered through the Selangor Community Host Programme.
The programme, which consists of 51 packages, offers the service of local tour guides to expose tourists to the local community and the state’s heritage and culture.
“People may not be travelling now, but they will be planning their future travels. Therefore we continued with the promotional campaigns, such as meeting with the travel agencies that we had contacted before arriving in Berlin, and had also met with local bloggers and media representatives, who will cooperate with us on some of the campaigns we have.
“Aside from the experiential packages, there are several other tourism products that would attract European visitors, including Sky Mirror (in Kuala Selangor) and Gamuda Cove (in Dengkil),” Azrul said during a recent interview at the Malaysian Embassy in Berlin.
Apart from B2B sessions, Tourism Selangor also held a Government-to-Government session with Berlin-based Malaysian ambassador to Germany, Datin Sarah Albakri Devadason, as well as Tourism Malaysia officers in Berlin.
Tourism Selangor had also launched the “Selangor Up-Close 2020: Europe Edition Travelogue Competition; #SelangorThroughMyLens” during the “Meet & Greet Session with Berlin Media” held at the embassy on March 5.
Despite the projected 50 to 60 per cent drop in international tourists amid fears of Covid-19, Azrul said he is positive that the Selangor government would be able to attract the targeted number of visitors due to the strategies that have been put in place to help cushion the impact.
The strategies include focusing on domestic tourists and banking on sports and medical tourism.
“Selangor is one of the best in medical tourism. The industry is thriving as we have many medical centres, over 40 of them, that are of international standard.
“We see a lot of tourists coming from Indonesia and other Asean countries for medical tourism and at the same time they would take the opportunity to explore the state, do some shopping or visit theme parks and such,” he said.
The Selangor administration is targeting eight million tourist arrivals this year, as part of the overall Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign.
“I believe we will hit the target. The drop in the tourism sector is a global phenomenon, it’s not only Selangor that has been affected.
“But each state has its own uniqueness and Selangor has a lot of attractions to woo local tourists, such as paragliding sports, which can be experienced in Kuala Langat and Hulu Selangor.”
As several large-scale tourism events are being called off, Azrul said Tourism Selangor is actively introducing tourist destinations to the wider audience of the Internet.
“We are fully utilising social media platforms as well as our new and revamped website at selangor.travel as part of our efforts to promote the tourism products in Selangor.”
