Agro-tourism players collaborate on fruitful trips in the north

KANGAR – Agro-tourism will catalyse tourism initiatives in the country’s northern region after operators collaborated for the first time ever to pave an agricultural tourist trail from Ipoh to Perlis.

With the idea of supporting farmers and the agriculture industry, a team of agro-tourism players from Penang have decided to work together with farmers and farm owners on a regional basis to promote locally grown fruits.

Last month marked the first such trip on the trail northwards to Perlis, involving 25 individuals consisting of tour guides, tourism industry players and travel enthusiasts.

The group visited Superfruits Valley, which spans 50ha of farmland, Pusat Kecemerlangan Harumanis Bukit Bintang and the Perlis Exotic Fruit Park.

Led by Gwee Han Yang, visitors were able to witness the agricultural potential of the northern region, including a harvest of different types of lemons, gac fruit, finger limes, grapes, figs and the state’s pride and joy: the harum manis mango.

“Back in Penang, myself and Quah Ewe Kheng of Penang Tropical Fruit Farm tried to establish a real pasar tani concept with the support of the Farmers Association of Balik Pulau,” Gwee said, explaining the origins of this new tourism venture to The Vibes.

He added that it all started when a few of the farm owners organised a trip as mock tourists to visit Superfruits Valley in 2019, arranged by Indera Kayangan assemblyman Gan Ay Ling.

The visit sparked the idea to link Perlis and Penang farmers for the purpose of creating the tourism trail.

Like wildfire, the idea then spread to other farm owners who wanted in on the collaboration.

Gwee said that there are farmers in Kedah and Ipoh, Perak who are keen to be part of the agricultural corridor, which would introduce local and international tourists to the delectable fruits found along the routes from Perak to Kedah, Penang and Perlis.

Seeing that the tour has garnered interest on its very first trip, Gwee is targeting reaching 100 people per trip in the near future.

“We believe in sharing so that we all can grow together.

“Soon, tourists can also expect a centralised bazaar or market representing all the produce from the four states on respective product specialities, a gigantic one-stop centre of convenience,” he said.

Gwee added that the collaboration will not generate any profit and that visitors only need to pay for the logistics involved in getting to and returning from the farms – basically just the price of petrol and toll fees.

Tourism Malaysia backs agro-tourism operators’ efforts

Tourism Malaysia’s northern region representative Haizal Raz Khan also attended the tour.

He told the agro-tourism players that the agency will firstly focus on promoting food produce to attract tourists into the country.

To spur on and expand the efforts of Gwee and his team, Tourism Malaysia will organise a northern region agro-tourism familiarisation trip titled Fruits Galore – covering Perlis and Kedah in one trip and Kedah and Penang in the next.

He also encouraged the operators to organise a fruit festival and to apply for a grant from the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

The funds they would receive upon a successful application would range from RM500,000, for events focused on domestic tourism, and up to RM1 million for international-level events.

“As the international borders open, one thing we see is many Singaporeans are coming into Malaysia, and one of the things we can leverage on is our food, in this case, our fruits.

“If we want to see this succeed, then agro-tourism players must put in the effort and grasp this opportunity after a two-year pandemic hiatus,” he said.

Those interested in participating in a trip along the agricultural tourism trail can contact Quah Ewe Kheng at 019-334-7931. – The Vibes, May 2, 2022