VISIT PERAK YEAR 2012

By Audrey Melani Dermawan



This year is Visit Perak Year (VPY) 2012. however the promotional exercise for the state's highly-anticipated event has been greatly lacking.

There are hardly any posters, billboards or buntings promoting the event yet Perak hopes to attract some three million in tourist arrivals. I am not saying it is impossible for the second largest state in Peninsular Malaysia to achieve the target, but even if it did, it cannot be solely attributed to the VPY 2012 campaign.

At least 31 tourism activities have been planned for VPY 2012, if not more. Among them are the just-concluded Royal Belum World Drums Festival, Golf Challenge (next month), Citrawarna Perak (May), Travel Fair (June), Ipoh International Run (July), Moh Kite Bowling (September), International Youth Rainforest (November) and Fiesta Pelancongan (December).

The state had allocated RM2 million from the Budget 2012 to promote VPY 2012 alone. It is understandable that the state hopes to capture a large number of tourists during the VPY 2012, making Perak one of the top tourism destinations in the country, but at the rate things are moving, my guest, my friends and I are rather doubtful.

To compound matters, the surrounding environment is not of great help either. Take for example the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh, if one can even regard it as a full-fledged airport. There is only a single airline operating here and the only flight is from Ipoh to Singapore and vice-versa.

There were only two check-in counters, one grocery shop, an information counter, a security counter and a police base. There was also a single eatery outside the main terminal.The seats are not unlike those in the old Puduraya. I am not exaggerating. I was even told by locals that sometimes the roller-shutter at the main terminal is brought down. But thankfully, the airport is undergoing some major expansion work now.

There is also the filthy Medan Gopeng bus station -- the first impression tourists will have of the state upon their arrival to Ipoh. The taxis are also ripping-off passengers. I was told that the public transport service is pathetic.

Perak is endowed with many natural attractions like the Royal Belum, which is the world's oldest rainforest, Gua Tempurung, which is the largest limestone cave in Peninsular Malaysia, the Matang mangrove swamp, the Lenggong Heritage Valley and Pangkor island. It is just a matter of how we package these attractions to draw in tourists.

It is still not too late for the authorities to address whatever shortcomings to ensure visitors to the state have a pleasant experience here and spread the good words around when they return home. It would be useless to cry over spilled milk when we read about negative comments about Perak in Tripadvisor and other travel portals at the end of the VPY 2012 campaign. It is the responsibility of each and everyone in the state to work together to present the best of Perak to the world.