PENANG continues to be the preferred travel destination for tourists, especially during the holidays.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said several attractions made Penang the preferred destination for travel.
“Arts and culture bring positive impact to the state’s tourism sector. We also have exciting places of interest such as the Penang Hill and the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site.
“The state’s hotel levy collection this year is expected to be the same as last year.
“We expect to collect about RM8 million in hotel levy from hotels on the island; and about RM1 million from hotels on the mainland.
“The total collection did not see much changes due to the competition from homestay providers.
“Many tourists, especially those who are travelling with their family, may prefer to look for homestay providers.
“I believe that the Federal Government is looking at ways to regulate the services. Nevertheless, the tourism sector in Penang remains aggressive and strong,” he told a press conference after attending the ‘Tribute to Datuk Nicol David: Meet & Greet’ event at the Nicol David International Squash Centre in Bukit Dumbar today.
Chow said that the hotel levy collection would be used for tourism development in Penang.
“It is used for promotional and marketing purposes as well as to provide subsidies to airline companies that wish to provide direct flights to Penang,” he said.
Chow welcomed the Penang International Airport expansion project.
“We are able to receive more tourists with the expansion of the airport. The airport is already receiving some eight million passengers per annum,” he said.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix and video by Alvie Cheng