It is all virtual, at least for now. In gearing up initiatives leading up to when the borders are finally open, Tourism Selangor has established a collaboration debut with Tourism Malaysia Dubai on Malaysia Specialist Certified Programme (MSCP) 2021 held on March 16th.
As the Official Tourism Promotion Agency of Selangor, Tourism Selangor is dedicated to ensuring the sustainability of Selangor’s tourism in international travel markets amidst a global pandemic. Hence, even when no real encounters may take place, a virtual platform was best to connect Tourism Selangor with nearly 200 travel professionals based in Dubai.
As the best city to represent the Middle-East travel market, Dubai has a concentration of travel agencies and agents on which Tourism Selangor was able to engage within a Webinar session arranged as one of the key insights to MSCP. Not only provided with ample information on Selangor after logging out, but those involved in the session were also given a Certificate endorsed by Tourism Malaysia Dubai and Tourism Selangor for their participation.
Virtually showcasing Selangor to the Middle-East audience, Azrul Shah Mohamad, General Manager of Tourism Selangor led the State’s aspiration in an interactive session held on Tuesday. Azrul Shah further shared; “I am eager to share a little bit of the delights and wonders that await Middle-East tourists in Selangor. Selangor truly has it all. The State is a vibrant and exotic blend of modernity, culture, economic advancement and natural wonders. Our infrastructure is also systemically-blended into the landscape, and Selangor also caters to various tourism trends over the years”.
Travel Trends
With strength in diverse tourism segmentations, Selangor is a perfect destination for urban experiences, as well as for the quest for tranquillity or serenity of nature. The Webinar session was merely an effort to cater to emerging travel trends that Middle-East tourists are looking forward to in Selangor.
The travel trends include travelling for weddings or honeymoons, pre-or post-wedding photoshoots, theme and amusement park and shopping experiences, heritage, cultures and art appreciation, medical and wellness, and extreme sports.
Some of the State’s tourism attractions highlighted during the Webinar session include Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Palace of the Golden Horses, Batu Caves, Mah Meri Cultural Village, Sunway Medical Centre, Alpha Fertility Centre, Sunway Lagoon, i-City, Discovery Park Gamuda Cove, 1Utama Shopping Centre, Sunway Pyramid, Mitsui Outlet Park, as well as Kuala Kubu Bharu town which is a delight to adrenaline junkies for being home to various extreme sports activities including water tubing, white-water rafting and paragliding.
“Splendid Selangor, Take Me Anywhere” Campaign
The Webinar was also a perfect opportunity to foster the “Splendid Selangor, Take Me Anywhere” Campaign by Tourism Selangor and introduce it to the Middle-East travel audience. The Campaign is geared towards positioning Selangor on the global map, especially in international Media coverage and among foreign social media users. The campaign warps around the idea of portraying Selangor as a well-rounded destination of joy for future international travellers. The initiatives include the usage of the #SplendidSelangor and #TakeMeAnywhere hashtags on social media to establish a significant branding of Tourism Selangor.
Impacts of Covid-19 and New Norm Practices
The Selangor State Government was systematic in handling the Covid-19 aftermath and was first to introduce a virtual movement tracking application called SElangkah: Langkah Masuk dengan Selamat. Selangor’s tourism operators are ready to welcome tourists post Covid-19 by ensuring guidelines based on the SOPs set by the Malaysian National Security Council and the Malaysian Ministry of Health are met, adhered to and practised at all times at their premises.
Special guidelines such as reducing the maximum visitor capacity at-a-time up to 50% reduction of normal capacity at tourism attractions in Selangor allows visitors to practice social distancing. The airports in Selangor are also prepared in welcoming a large number of visitors once borders are open including social distancing measures at commonly-congested areas around the airports.
Closing
The outcome of the Webinar is hoped to lead towards the inclusion of Selangor in the travel packages developed by the Webinar participants. Moving forward, Tourism Selangor is also open to any FAM Tour programmes involving the Media and travel agencies from Dubai and other Middle-East countries once the travel ban has been lifted.
Selangor, which is home to modern skyscrapers to the lush greens and beyond, poses the right balance of nature versus leisure. Making Selangor a destination of choice to Middle-East travellers, this initiative with Tourism Malaysia Dubai is a catalyst to more collaborations in the future; virtual or not; Tourism Selangor is determined in tapping into the Middle-East travel market which poses a high potential of contributing towards an influx of tourists into Selangor once the much-anticipated inter-border travels are finally permitted post-pandemic.
Watch the space at Selangor.Travel for more information on the latest tourism attractions in Selangor and travel articles up for some good reads.”
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