Thursday, 16 July 2009

by Sylvia Looi

SINGAPORE: The Perak Government hopes to attract 20% of Singapore tourists to the state following the introduction of Firefly’s Ipoh-Singapore service.

Perak state executive councillor Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board’s records showed that 11.43 million Singaporeans visited Malaysia last year.

He said the four times weekly flights have been fully booked for the next two months while flights for November were 85% booked.

Urging Singapore investors to grab the opportunity to invest in the state following the introduction of the air service, Dr Mah said the time needed to travel between Ipoh and Singapore had now been shortened considerably.

“The Firefly flights augur well with the state’s plans to attract more investors,” he said after hosting a dinner here on Monday evening for invited guests.

Dr Mah had led a delegation of state dignitaries and newsmen to visit the island republic following the introduction of the air service.

Singaporeans contributed 18% of the RM3bil in investments received by the state.

Malaysia’s High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Md Hussin Nayan, who was present, welcomed the service as it would provide an opportunity for Singaporeans and Ipoh folks to visit each other.

He also urged tourism players in Perak to provide better services to tourists.

During the delegation’s three-day visit, dialogues were held with the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Land Transport Authority, Preservation of Monuments Board and Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister S. Iswaran.