Kuala Lumpur is striving to become the region’s gastronomic hub, calling enthusiasts’ attention to its first food festival and F&B standards rating system, among other initiatives.

Think food, think Kuala Lumpur! That’s the message Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s tourism unit and the mayor of Kuala Lumpur hope to drive across to tourists, with intensified efforts to position the Malaysian capital into a gastronomic haven of South-east Asia and to develop a comprehensive standards framework, as outlined in the Tourism Master Plan 2015-2025.

Many initiatives were thus introduced in 1H2015. The tourism unit organised Malaysia’s first-ever gourmet food festival, Kuala Lumpur Big Kitchen Festival 2015, in the city from May 29 to 31 at Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square). Food trucks and stalls served all kinds of local, fusion and gourmet items, offering visitors plenty to sample. A hotel dining section satisfied those seeking a finer dining experience.

Kuala Lumpur’s food ambassador,  Norman Musa – who is also the executive chef and co-founder of Ning restaurant in Manchester, UK – as well as other local celebrity chefs conducted cooking workshops and demonstrations to ‘edutain’ attendees on the variety of Malaysian dishes. One of the highlights was the KL Big Kitchen, Big Race, in which 12 pairs of participants raced between Merdeka Square and Chow Kit wet market to retrieve ingredients missing from recipes, drawing on clues provided at different legs of the race.

In fact, in conjunction with ITB Berlin in early March, Norman had given a cooking demonstration to the travel trade and international media at Berlin’s Kochatelier. That was part of his 2015 European tour covering also Paris, Amsterdam and London to demonstrate the art of Malaysian cooking and promote the city’s gourmet scene through a series of hands-on cooking ateliers.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s tourism unit has also recently produced a Food Trails map in association with popular lifestyle publication, TimeOut Kuala Lumpur, for FIT  travellers and tour operators to include in their itineraries.

“The map is a great way for travellers to navigate their way through the food streets of the city,” said Noraza Yusof, head of tourism, Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

The idea is to give exposure to and highlight the culinary attractions in five areas, namely Kampong Bharu, Old Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Alor, Jalan Pudu and Brickfields, covering cuisines of the city’s main ethnic communities of Malays, Chinese and Indians.

The Kuala Lumpur Food & Beverage Quality Assurance rating programme, introduced in February, was part of the tourism unit’s efforts to develop a comprehensive standards framework for dine-in establishments. It is also intended to allay food hygiene concerns among foreign tourists. Food outlets that have been rated will sport ‘Quality Assured Restaurant Kuala Lumpur’ stickers.

Ahmad Phesal Talib, mayor of Kuala Lumpur, said: “This new initiative is meant to raise the standard of F&B establishments and facilitate service excellence. Food outlets are audited based on global industry standards and accreditation is valid for two years and renewable.”

Targeted at dine-in establishments such as fine dining restaurants, café, bistros and fast food chains, the audit covers areas such as hygiene, cleanliness, facilities and amenities, customer service, food variety and presentation, as well as safety and security.

Ahmad Phesal added: “Those who have not yet met the minimum standards required will be provided with a report identifying areas of improvement, in order for them to upgrade themselves to reach the minimum score for accreditation.”

Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Malaysia Chapter president, Jagjit Singh Sambhi, suggests that City Hall also provides a listing of accredited restaurants to make it easy for locals and tourists to identify them.

Meanwhile, the city’s iconic street food paradise of Jalan Alor is set to get a major facelift for a more pleasant ambiance. City Hall will invest RM12 million (US$3.4 million) to upgrade the food street through improvements in the drainage system, landscaping and cleanliness. The project is expected to commence in July and be completed within a year.

Luxury Tours Malaysia senior manager, Arokia Das, opined: “It is great that City Hall is taking efforts to improve Jalan Alor, which is so well known among Singaporeans and Thais. Every kind of local food can be found there to suit all palates.

“Food is very important for tourism. Asians and Westerners love to try the local cuisine, and this is one great way of promoting the city – through people’s stomachs. This initiative should have been carried out a long time ago, and it is great that City Hall is putting so much passion into it!”

This article was first published in TTG Asia, June 19, 2015 issue, on page 21. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Nature is no longer Khao Yai’s only draw as high-end accommodation and other offerings keep being added to the national park.

High-end hotel openings and new attractions are drawing more Asian travellers to Khao Yai, as well as helping put the destination on the radar of those with big budgets. However, travel consultants say most longhaul tourists continue to be drawn to the area by the abundant nature and treks that can be experienced in and around the national park.

Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex, in which the park is located, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which spans 230km east of the Thai-Cambodia border and is home to some 800 species of birds, mammals and reptiles, including a number of endangered animals. This, and its proximity to the capital – about a two-hour drive on a good day – makes Khao Yai a popular extension to a Bangkok trip or longer tour of the country.

Andre van der Marck, vice president of Khiri Group, said recent hotel openings have helped the destination move upscale.
“The recent development of five-star properties has helped us sell the destination to upper-market clients who were not interested in the destination before due to the lack of five-star accommodation,” he said, adding that most of Khiri’s clients who opt for Khao Yai are nature enthusiasts, active tourists and repeat visitors focused on the environment and are not overly bothered about staying at high-end resorts.

“(A key reason) why we like to include Khao Yai in packages, apart from its ideal location, is the variety of hikes and treks and levels of difficulty. There are dozens of varied jungle trails that can be offered to hikers from first-timers to experienced trekkers. (Our) treks are always conducted by a local ranger from the national park.”

Khiri offers a number of one- to four-day packages in Khao Yai, and van der Marck said the destination can also be incorporated with a trip to Ayudhaya or to the company’s tented camp in Banteay Chhmar in nearby Cambodia.

Beyond the national park and surrounding area, Khao Yai’s longstanding attractions include Farm Chockchai, which runs educational tours, as well as a number of wineries and golf courses dotting the hills. A diverse range of smaller-scale products have also entered the market, such as Secret Art Garden and Khao Yai Art Museum. More recently, educational farm and equestrian centre, Farm Mor Por, as well as integrated amusement park, water park and mall, Scenical World, have come online.

The destination has also become increasingly popular with the domestic market, in particular Millennials from Bangkok. This has fuelled the groundswell of design-focused hotels and contemporary restaurants which have opened along Thanarat Road in Pak Chong district.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has also been more actively promoting Khao Yai over the past two years, both to support the local industry currently suffering from low occupancy during the week and to relieve the pressure on Bangkok from the influx of arrivals from China and Russia.

TAT said its efforts have netted significant results. “Over the last two years, Khao Yai has attracted an increasing number of foreign visitors, including golfers from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia,” said a spokesman from TAT’s Nakhon Ratchasima office, which is responsible for the area.

“The tourism promotion of Khao Yai focuses on positioning the area as a single destination, but with an option of onward travel to Phimai Historical Park or vice versa. The length of stay is about two days/one night or three days/two nights.”

He too, said the addition of new hotels has also provided a boon for business.
However, the upswing in domestic tourism and groups from China and Russia is not without challenges, opined van der Marck. “Loads of local tourists can be quite disturbing for our clients, who usually travel as couples or in very small groups. They are not prepared to see so many people at the park entrance. But once inside under the lead of the ranger, expectations are always exceeded.”

Khao Yai also has to compete with more established Thai destinations such as Chiang Mai in the north and Khao Sok in the south. Tobias Fischer, business development director of Go Vacation Thailand, said while the park has long been part of its tour programme, most of his European clients still prefer Kanchanaburi “because of the border to Myanmar, the history, the Mon hilltribes and the river”.

He added: “But Khao Yai National Park is closer to Bangkok. It’s also the perfect gateway to Isaan. With a growing offer of activities, hotels and golf courses, we see growing demand mainly from our repeat clients.”

This article was first published in TTG Asia, June 19, 2015 issue, on page 24. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.