WEST Java Tourism Promotion Board established last Saturday an office in Kuala Lumpur to raise awareness of tourism destinations beyond Bandung. It has also appointed Helmi Abdul Razak as its marketing manager (see TTG Asia e-Daily, May 2, 2012).
The Board’s executive director, Hilwan Saleh, said: “Many Malaysians only know about Bandung. But there are other interesting places to visit such as Tasikmalaya, Garut and its surroundings.
“By setting up a promotion office in Kuala Lumpur, we hope to see a five to 10 per cent annual increase in visitors, and we hope to capture more of the MICE market from Malaysia. We also hope to attract repeat visitors to West Java to visit these places and to venture beyond Bandung.”
Malaysia’s PYO Travel senior manager, customer support, John Chan, said: “We welcomed the setting up of an office here. The travel industry has always been focusing on primary gateway capital cities. The new office will spotlight secondary and out-of-the-way destinations that have never been on the radar. A local office will also improve the knowledge of travel consultants and support them with promotional literature.”
Bandung receives an average of 12,000 Malaysian visitors monthly, which makes Malaysia the biggest regional market to West Java.
During the West Java Tourism Exchange conference earlier this year, Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association West Java chairman, Herman Muchtar, said the aim was to secure 300,000 to 350,000 arrivals from Malaysia over the next four years.
West Java Tourism Promotion Board also plans to set up an office in Singapore soon.
