SEBERANG PERAI, Oct 8 — The Penang state government is working out a tourism master plan to repackage Penang to include ecotourism in Seberang Perai, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
He said it is important to include Seberang Perai in the tourism master plan and make use of its natural assets such as mangroves, mudflats, a variety of migratory birds and the potential of the Perai River.
“If we look at other countries, the riverfront is an important tourist asset and we can explore the potential of Perai River too,” he said in a press conference after the opening of the Seberang Perai International Conference on Ecotourism and Conservation Efforts here.
He pointed out that the Mengkuang Dam, one of the largest water bodies in the peninsula, can be an attraction too once it is fully completed and opened to public.
He said the Penang state tourism exco, Yeoh Soon Hin, has been entrusted to come up with the tourism master plan.
The master plan will look at tourism development as a whole in the state so it will include the world heritage site, beaches, the national park on the island as well as ecotourism sites on the mainland, he added.
“I personally will see that we package Penang as a state with attractions at local level so for Seberang Perai, tourism assets will be listed in the state’s tourism development plan,” he said.
He said by including Seberang Perai, Penang can be sold as a whole package that consists of tourism spots both on the island and Seberang Perai.
“This is so that Penang can be sold as a four to six-day package tour where tourists can spend three to four days on the island and another two to three days on the mainland.
“We hope to get the master plan completed soon so we can chart a new direction and focus on the growth of tourism for Penang,” he said.
Chow said the tourism sector is an important sub-sector of the services industry in the state.
The services industry takes up a 49 per cent share of the state’s economy, fast surpassing the manufacturing sector, he said.
The services sector is made up of various sub-sectors, including business process outsourcing, shared services and outsourcing and logistics.
