KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — Visitors should judge Malaysia’s safety for themselves, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said today after a tourism expert warned that more must be done to counter perceived fears about Malaysia.
The culture and tourism minister said it was also pointless to rebut false reports about crime and conservatism in the country, and that his ministry could not stop those who insisted on propagating such views.
“Whatever we say, they may not believe.
“The only way to prove to all these people that Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Klang and Johor Baru and Penang are safe—please, come and visit us and see for yourself whether it is safe or whether it is not safe,” he added.
On Tuesday, crisis management expert Bert van Walbeek said that Malaysia must tackle perceptions online that its tourism destinations are dangerous and that alcohol cannot be consumed here.
Van Walbeek had told the Global Tourism Cities Conference 2016 here that several websites carry such claims, including worldatlas.com that lists four cities in Malaysia as allegedly being among the most dangerous cities in Asia ― Kuala Lumpur (second), Petaling Jaya (third), Klang (fifth), and Johor Baru (10th).
He suggested that Malaysia implement a hotline for tourists, a tourism crisis committee, a tourism emergency manual, a social media team to monitor crises, and a tourism police team.
Today, Nazri said he supports the idea of having a tourism police team, further suggesting that Malaysia set up a Tourism Court to provide quick resolution to court cases involving tourists.
