ISKANDAR PUTERI – The Johor government has allocated over RM29 million to empower the state’s tourism industry which it hopes will help boost economic growth.
Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said RM14.3 million will be used to intensify the implementation of “softscape” and “hardscape” works at the main entry points of Johor as part of the Greater Johor Bahru Agenda.
He said this was because the re-opening of the international border on April 1 has seen an increase in the number of tourists, in addition to stimulating the growth of the tourism sector and local economic activities.
“To improve tourism infrastructure, the state government has channeled RM8.3 million to maintain tourism centres including the Johor Gunung Ledang National Park, the Sultan Abu Bakar Royal Museum and the Johor Zoo,” he said when unveiling the Johor 2023 budget at the Sultan Ismail building in Kota Iskandar here today.
The Machap assemblyman said the state government’s success in organising tourism events – including the Majestic Johor Festival, which received the Gold Award for Attractive State Tourism Event at the Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Awards 2022, and the Le’tape and Ironman tourism sports championships – have been a catalyst for tourist arrivals.
“Therefore, the state government has allocated RM3 million to organise signature events at the international and domestic levels which are expected to attract more than one million tourists.
“These events will also help those in the hospitality, retail, food and beverage sectors and also petty traders,” he said.
He said a total of RM2.45 million was provided for the marketing and promotion of Majestic Johor through tourism segments including health tourism, educational tourism as well as cultural and heritage tourism.
Another RM620,000 was allocated under the Majestic Johor tourism standards initiative to maintain the quality of service, cleanliness, safety and health in state tourism centres, the menteri besar said.
“A total of RM500,000 has also been provided to implement a training and development programme for 1,000 tour guides.
Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz said some RM5.25 million will be spent to install closed-circuit cameras with artificial intelligence technology, especially in crime hotspot areas, with improvements also made on lighting systems that will be managed by the local authorities. – Bernama, December 1, 2022
