Roads to Taman Negara, Malaysia’s largest national park and conservation area, were made inaccessible by floods in Jerantut District earlier this month, but some agents and resort operators say it is now business as usual at the attraction.
After a temporary closure from January 2 to 6, one of the larger resorts in the park, the 87-key Mutiara Taman Negara National Park Resort, reopened its doors on January 7.
Mutiara Taman Negara’s director of sales, Kingston Khoo, said: “The weather is beautiful now at Taman Negara. Water levels on the Tembeling River in Kuala Tahan have receded by more than seven metres and are back to normal levels.”
Khoo shared that activities at the resort are running as usual, including the canopy walk, boat trips from the resort to Lata Berkoh, jungle-trekking trips and visits to indigenous communities.
He said the resort is looking to close the month with an average occupancy of 40 per cent, adding that agent partners have continued to support and promote the park since its reopening.
One such agent, Manfred Kurz, managing director of Diethelm Travel Malaysia, said: “We had a handful of FIT clients whom we had to divert when the resort was temporarily closed. But now that it is open, we continue to (sell) programmes to Taman Negara, which we think is the (go-to) park in Peninsular Malaysia if you want to learn more about jungles.”
Meanwhile, Khoo remarked that weather patterns have changed, and the monsoon season normally expected in the months of November and December have begun later in the past two years, and in shorter spells.
