Is tourism booming in the four northern states of peninsula Malaysia?

 

TOURISM is about expenditures, not the number of visitors and organising events in the open that everyone can watch or promoting natural spots are not tourism but recreational activities that generate little or no revenue for organisers or promoters.

VISIT Perlis Year 2024–2025 is likely to see a record number of visitors in this northernmost state. Visit Kedah 2025 is around the corner and those passing through Kedah and heading to Perlis will be counted as visitors by these two states.

On the other side of the peninsula, Visit Kelantan 2024 is coming to a close, whereas the next Visit Terengganu Year will be in 2027. But how many people from other states or countries are aware or attracted by these “Visit State Years”?

Would people living in these four Perikatan-ruled states prefer to visit each other instead of heading to seven other states under Pakatan Harapan? If not, would they be heading to south Thailand to have a great time which is not available where personal lives are tightly controlled?

Hordes of Malaysian tourists to Thailand passing through these four states may add to their visitors count, but the money will be spent mostly in Thailand, especially Hat Yai. The Visit State Years may record large numbers of visitors but not correspondingly high tourism expenditures.

Tourism is about expenditures, not the number of visitors. Organising events in the open that everyone can watch or promoting natural spots such as waterfalls or beaches are not tourism per se. These are recreational activities that generate little or no revenue for organisers or promoters.

(Image: Kosmo)

Tourism is an accurate indicator of how progressive a state or country is. It is no accident that the four northernmost states are the least popular for both local and foreign visitors, although blessed with many idyllic islands and sandy beaches, and the largest manmade lake in Southeast Asia.

But tourism and economic success depends very much on the people and government. A country with few natural attractions and resources can still be highly successful through quality education, efficiency, meritocracy, inclusiveness, and universal values such as honesty and hardworking,

But if these were replaced by indoctrination, inefficiency, entitlement, exclusiveness, bribery, and unproductivity, such societies would remain backward. Hence, they are often engaged in rhetorical activities to claim they are superior, as can be seen in their speeches and actions.

Apart from those on leisure holidays, foreign tourists include large numbers who come to invest, do business, visit relatives and friends; for education, training, or sport; and attend meetings, exhibitions, conventions, and conferences to discuss, learn, and be exposed internationally.

Most foreigners would rather not reside or visit these four northernmost states where many people are insular, as the other seven states plus the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya offer much better options, so too are the regions of Sabah and Sarawak.

Tourism will continue to boom in both north and south of these four laggard states, which may be active with sloganeering or naming Visit State Years.

But these efforts will not amount to much as they are nothing more than syiok sendiri exercises because most visitors go for the real deal. 

YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT. 

- Focus Malaysia.