NOW IS THE IDEAL TIME TO TRAVEL DOMESTICALLY - MATTA

By Jeffrey Goh

GEORGE TOWN, Aug 6  -- State tourism players including the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) have unanimously agreed that now is the ideal time for Malaysians to travel domestically.

Chairman of Matta Penang Vergis Mathews told Bernama that the key industry players in the Northern region have been aggressively promoting domestic tourism in order to revitalise the tourism sectors.

"After the COVID-19 (pandemic), we have been laying out new tourism packages with dynamic pricing structures in the domestic market to show the world that we are ready," he said.

He said the Matta Fair this year, to be held online between Sept 9 and 15, would also focus on promoting domestic tourism nationwide.

"With the school holidays and Merdeka Day coming close together, there will not be a better time for Malaysians to travel around Malaysia," he said.

He added that Penang has been recording around 680 domestic tourists visiting the state daily.

Earlier today, Vergis attended the launch of a Business to Business (B2B) networking session organised by the Matta Kedah/Perlis chapter, in collaboration with the Kedah Tourism executive councillor.

A total of 33 Matta members from Kedah and 19 members from Penang participated in the B2B session officiated by Kedah Tourism, Arts and Culture, Youth and Sports, Entrepreneur Development and Co-operatives Committee chairman Mohd Firdaus Ahmad.

Also attending the event were Tourism Malaysia Northern Region director Ahmad Husni Ahmad Basri, Matta Kedah chairman Mohd Yusin Mohd Yatim and Penang Global Tourism chief executive officer Ooi Chok Yan.

Meanwhile, Mohd Firdaus said the programme was to help tourism agents to update the current standings among the Matta members in Penang and Kedah after the tourism sector was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The B2B session will mutually help Matta members to understand their current status, how much they have lost (due to COVID-19) as well as to share and exchange their ideas and strategies to revitalise their businesses," he said.

He added that a B2B session was held in Perak on Aug 5, expressing hope that similar programmes could be held in Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Sabah in the future.

-- BERNAMA