Monday, September 04, 2006

Exciting events lined up for Visit Malaysia Year 2007

PUTRAJAYA: Get ready to be impressed, Malaysians. Some heady events are coming your way in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

Among the events lined up are a six-storey-high space shuttle from Russia, a 100m-high ferris wheel to be located at the KLCC and an international fireworks competition.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said these were only some of the events lined up to promote Malaysia as a tourist hotspot.

“The space shuttle – called Buran – will be flown into the country by a special aircraft and will be exhibited at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.

“We won the right to exhibit the space shuttle after winning a bidding war with China and South Korea. The aerospace exhibition, to take place from June until Aug next year, will also commemorate the send-off of our first astronaut into space, which is scheduled at the same time,'' he told reporters after launching the Kemas kindergarten carnival here yesterday.

The 100m ferris wheel in KLCC, known as the “Eyes of Malaysia”, will allow rides for the whole year to the accompaniment of a light show.

Other events include the famous Edinburgh military tattoo show, and a floral and horticultural show and parade.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the ministry would receive a RM149mil allocation in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

Malaysia is hoping to attract some 20 million visitors.

Tengku Adnan said the ministry would also continue to give subsidies to inbound tour operators to hold promotions overseas as well as for the printing of pamphlets in various languages like Chinese and Russian.

“However, I also hope they will go all out to promote other tourist spots in the country.

For instance, when I went to Semporna in Sabah recently, I found that there were more species of fish in its diving spots than there were at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

“Similarly, there are caves such as the Gua Tempurung in Perak and Gua Ikan in Kelantan that local tour operators have not been promoting,” he added.

Tengku Adnan said he also hoped that the income tax deduction given for local leave passage under the Budget would help spur domestic tourism.

Source: The Star

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