BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 25 SEPTEMBER 2022
The Travel Agents Federation of India ( TAFI), Eastern India has invited the Johor Tourism Board authority and other important stakeholders including travel agents to visit the state, see and sell the tourism of West Bengal.
The dignitaries present were Dr. Mohd. Azlan Ab. Jalil, deputy director of Johor Tourism, Mr. Ivan Teo, chairman of Malaysian Association of Hotels, Johor Chapter, Mr. Subramanium A/ L Kandasamy, Johor Chapter Chairman of Malaysian Association of Tour And Travel Agents, Mr. Edwin Tay K.C, chairman of Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association . Other important stakeholders were also present in the meeting with TAFI members at Johor.
In an exclusive interview to The Travel and Tourism Times, Mr. Anil Punjabi, Chairman ( East) of TAFI said that yesterday a crucial meeting followed by gala dinner was held at Grand Paragon Hotel , Johor Bahru with about 30 members from all over India.
“ Johor is an exotic and new destination for the Indian tourists and will be easily saleable. It is about a 90 minutes drive by road from Singapore and the tourists can stay at Johor and visit in the day to Singapore and return back at night. Staying at Johor is cheaper as Malaysian currency one Ringgit costs Rs.20 and Singapore currency one Dollar costs Rs.50. The tour package will be almost one third cheaper. Here many people stay in Johor and work in Singapore and come back home at night. The tourists in fact can visit three countries staying at Johor, as even the Bin Tan which is located at the border of Indonesia and is famous for white sands can be visited,” added Mr. Anil Punjabi.
Batik Air has already started flights and Air Asia is already there, so connectivity is not an issue with Kolkata. The authority has taken the TAFI members to visit its 100 acres organic farms of fruit cultivation, 25 acres water park, Legoland ( like Disneyland) for children etc in Johor.
There are big malls here for the shopaholics and the sea and Singapore can be seen from the hotel rooms in Johor.
“The biggest advantage will be for the Tollywood film industry, they shoot in London and the cost of one British Pound is about Rs.100 wheras the Malaysian Ringgit is around Rs.20, so the shooting cost of a blockbuster bengali feature film should come down to one fifth. The air fares are low and the hotel stays are also cheaper post covid . After returning back I will discuss the issue with the Tolywood film producers. Johor Tourism has offered shooting spots at exotic locations here ,”said Mr. Anil Punjabi.
The Tourism Board of Malaysia has arranged tours for the over 500 TAFI members who have participated in the convention at Kechung. Each group comprises 30 members and all the groups are sent to different destinations for tourism promotion. Besides Tafi East members there were members from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir in the meeting.
ABOUT JOHOR :
Located at the southern tip of Malay Peninsula , Johor is a Malaysian state consisting of the highly diverse rainforests and is renowned for its beaches. The jungles of Johor have a wide array of flora and fauna and there is a huge network of rivers which originate from the mountains and hills and are spread across the west, south and east.
The state of Johor provides a perfect insight into Malay culture, tradition and history and is famous for its diversity in language and ethnicity.
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