GEORGE TOWN, Sept 11 — Penang is looking into forming tourism alliances with other holiday destinations in the region to further fuel the strong growth in its tourism sector.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state is mulling the idea of promoting tourism through strategic alliances with destinations linked to the state through frequent flights.

"We can form an alliance with Krabi (in Thailand) so that we can promote them here and on their side, they promote us," he said when launching the inaugural Firefly flight between Penang and Krabi today.

The state sees a total of 218 incoming and outgoing international flights each week, with the highest number of routes to Singapore and Medan, Indonesia.

With the introduction of the Penang-Krabi flight today, the state now has a total 10 flights weekly to and from Thailand.

Firefly also flies four times a week to Phuket and three weekly to Koh Samui.

"We don't have to be rivals with Phuket or Koh Samui but we can form tourism alliances to promote each other," Lim said.

The tourism sector in Penang continues to see a strong growth with an increase in 33.4 per cent in domestic arrivals and 8.23 per cent in international arrivals for the first two months of this year compared to 2013.

"Despite the double tragedies of MH17 and MH370, the tourism industry in Penang is not affected and we are showing good tourism numbers," the Penang lawmaker said.

He pointed out that the hotels in Penang have recorded full occupancy especially during holiday period.

Penang also accounted for 60 per cent of the 555,000 foreign medical tourists to Malaysia last year.

The seven private hospitals in Penang recorded revenues of RM280 million last year.

"A total 333,000 people sought medical treatment in Penang last year and we expect an annual growth of 15 per cent on foreign medical tourists," Lim said.

Lim pointed out that the Penang International Airport is the second largest and most busy airport in the country with 55 cargo flights taking off each week.

"The airport is very crowded now and with increases in cargo flights, we hope the Malaysia Airport Berhad took note of the need to expand the airport and establish an air cargo hub," he said.

On the introduction of the third link between Penang and Thailand by Firefly, Lim said it will establish Penang as a gateway for the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.

"Penang will be an important commercial hub that can and will spur growth in IMT-GT," he said.

He added that the route will also establish Penang as a second gateway for Malaysia to medium and long haul destinations.