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Malaysia has been named the best country in four out of six sectors in the 2020/21 State of the Global Islamic Economy Report (SGIE). This includes being the top-ranked country in the Muslim-friendly travel (MFT) sector, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
According to the recently released report by international strategic research and advisory firm DinarStandard, Malaysia has also emerged as a leader in the Halal Food, Islamic Finance, and Pharmaceutical & Cosmetics sectors. Malaysia also ranked second and fourth in the media and recreation and modest fashion sectors, respectively.
“Realizing the enormous potential of Islamic tourism under the MFT concept, Malaysia through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and its agency Islamic Tourism Center (ITC) will continue to increase efforts to gain more market shares through infrastructure and facilities, training, capacity building, standards and certification, as well as promotion by tourism promotion boards, ”Nancy said in a statement.
In the MFT category, the Malaysian government ranked first in two of the four benchmarks, namely governance, which refers to regulations related to the tourism industry and awareness in terms of media coverage. and stakeholder training.
Nancy said that the ministry and ITC had focused on stakeholder training during the downtime generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which was highlighted in the report.
“ITC offered a series of free Muslim-friendly and tourism-related online training sessions covering topics such as halal certification, the needs of Muslim travelers, and Islamic branding and marketing,” he said.
In the Muslim-friendly travel sector, 200.3 million Muslim travelers contributed US $ 194 billion in global travel expenses in 2019, demonstrating its enormous potential. However, the pandemic has paralyzed growth in this sector, which is only expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.
SGIE provides a comprehensive picture of countries that are currently best positioned to tackle the multi-trillion dollar global halal economic opportunity.
The SGIE report covered a total of 81 countries comprising countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and non-OIC countries with a prominent presence of the halal industry.
Melaka will focus on ecotourism
On the other hand, the Melaka Chapter of the Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (Matta) focuses on activities to promote ecotourism as an alternative to overcome the Covid-19 crisis.
Its president, Goh Hock Gin, said the effort would add more value to the tourism sector in the state, which is famous for its historic attractions and food products among local and foreign tourists.
He said that the comprehensive efforts of entrepreneurs, state governments and travel agencies would help unlock the enormous potential and strengths of ecotourism products in the state.
“In the Matta Melaka chapter, we have about 15 travel agents and today we see ecotourism products as one of the new branches that can be further explored and promoted among tourists within and outside the country.
“As such, we plan to establish a consortium involving travel agents and travelers to intensify efforts to promote and sell ecotourism products in Melaka,” he told reporters after the Jom Terokai Alor Gajah program with the Matta Melaka Chapter recently.
Goh said that efforts to promote ecotourism products in the state were made not only due to the spread of Covid-19, but to provide more options for tourists, especially nature lovers.
He said the tourism subsector was also able to open up new economic opportunities for locals, especially in rural areas.
Meanwhile, the tourist boats at Sungai Kampung Paya Lebar in Masjid Tanah, Melaka are expected to resume operations in the first quarter of next year, said Yaaman Yusoff, executive director of the Kampung Paya Lebar Masjid Tanah Berhad cooperative.
Yaaman, who is also the chairman of the Kampung Paya Besar Village Development and Security Committee, said that the Melaka ecotourism product was still being restored to ensure passenger comfort along with the improvement of various basic facilities such as the pier.
“Sungai Kampung Paya Lebar tourist boats have been operating since 2013 through an allocation of RM1.5 thousand from the Ministry of Rural Development.
“The restoration and improvement work began earlier this year, but was halted due to the enforcement of the motion control order on March 18 and now, the work has restarted and is almost complete,” he said.
He said the tour boats were run by his cooperative in an effort to help the 85 members, mostly fishermen, increase their income.
“So far, we have eight boats to bring tourists along Sungai Paya Lebar and Sungai Kuala Linggi, a journey that stretches for 28km, in the morning and in the evening, while the price of the trip depends on the type of boat. and ranges from RM40 to RM45 per person.
“About 10,000 local and foreign tourists have embarked on boat trips to visit ecotourism destinations promoted by the state government under the Kampung Paya Lebar ecotourism center,” he said.
According to him, destinations include Sabak Arang, a charcoal production center that is more than 100 years old, Taman Lokan, which is famous for clam farming, and Kota Simpang, the site of an ancient Dutch settlement.
Furthermore, tourists also enjoyed the flora and fauna in the mangrove swamp and can observe monkeys, crocodiles, storks and fireflies as they roam the river.
He added that those interested in lobster fishing could rent boats available at the price of RM500 for an eight-passenger boat. – Bernama
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