PENANG will look into the feasibility of promo-ting the state as a scuba diving training centre. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said diving was a niche market that could be developed to benefit the tourism sector. “Penang can attract the best dive instructors. We will form a committee to look into this,” he said after launching the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang Chapter website at the Hydro Hotel recently. State Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law Heng Kiang said the state had potential to attract scuba diving enthusiasts as there is an old World War II sunken ship off Muka Head. “We want to see how we can protect and promote that site as few people know about it,” he said. Commenting on the website, MAH Penang Chapter president Marco Battistotti said the portal (www.discoverpenang.com.my) would provide tourists with up-to-date information on room availability. “This user-friendly portal is linked to 45 others that are related to Penang,” he said, adding that while the global tourism sector had slowed down during the economic downturn, the reverse was true here. “The beach hotels are doing better than last year and overall, our tourism industry chartered a growth,” he said. He added that by 2014, the state would have 10 new three, four and five-star hotels to cater to the increase in tourist arrivals. “The total investment for these hotels is just under RM1bil. We currently have some 9,000 plus rooms and by then, we will have about 13,000,” he said. In his speech, Lim said over 30 hotels were listed on the website. “Our hotels are market leaders in South East Asia. We (also) have to concentrate on non-peak periods as that would decide the bottom line for our hotels,” he said. “Hoteliers must give visitors value for money and I am not just referring to price. Our service and facilities must be excellent,” he said, adding that the state would focus on branding itself to attract new and young travellers. “We want to be associated with quality, reliability and sustainability. We have yet to fulfil our full potential in terms of marketing, promoting and packaging Penang,” he said. He noted that the state would have to upgrade and introduce new products and events to achieve a USD1bil share out of the country’s USD14bil tourism receipts. “Malaysia earned USD14bil from tourism last year and we only earned an estimated USD400mil. “There is still a large market untapped by Penang,” he said.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang will have 10 new three to five-star hotels which are expected to be built between 2010 and 2014 and the total investment is expected to be more than RM1 billion. Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), Penang chapter chairman Marco G Battistotti said on Sept 18 the new hotels would expand the rooms, in the three to four star hotel category, by 50% from the 9,000 now to 13,000 rooms in 2014. “Out of the 10 (new hotels), three of them will be completed in 16 weeks, another two hotels will be built next year and five more hotels will be built between 2011 and 2014. “At least five of them are hotels belong to national or international chains, some of which are already in Penang,” Battistotti said at the launch of MAH Penang’s website www.discoverpenang.com.my by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Over the next 16 weeks, the three hotels which would open their doors are the Hard Rock Hotel (opens on Saturday) in Batu Ferringhi, Flamingo Hotel (the former Crown Prince hotel) in Tanjung Bungah and Eastin Hotel in Bayan Bay. As for the website, it is linked to over 40 MAH Penang members and also 45 Penang related websites. Tourists could book their rooms on online. “Since Penang wants to attract 10 million tourists in 2014, the additional 50% increase in rooms will be able to accommodate the increase in tourist arrivals, which was 6.3 million last year,” he added. Battistotti said despite the global economic downturn, Penang’s beach hotels recorded higher occupancy rate this year compared to 2008 while the city hotels saw a 2% to 3% drop. Lim said there were also investors who were building boutique hotels in the heritage enclave area which augured well for Penang’s tourism efforts. “Even though they can only build hotels with the maximum five-storey height, they are still coming in to invest and this reflects the dynamism of the tourism industry in Penang,” Lim said. To promote Penang as a brand, there was a need to ensure only quality and reliability was associated with the name “Penang”. “We have the legal moral and moral responsibility to protect our brand name as it belongs to the people of Penang and as the custodian of the people, the state government has every right to protect the branding of Penang. “We are promoting Penang aggressively and in order to project our image internationally, we have to ensure that it is not misused by some people, who would spoil Penang’s image. “This is why I have been emphasising that we need to control the use of the “Penang” label as there have been instances of some tourism related projects, which had failed and it reflects badly for the tourism industry,” he added.
By The EDGE Malaysia (by Regina William)

WWW.DISCOVERPENANG.COM.MY YB Danny Law, State EXCO for Tourism Development,
Culture & Art
Mr Marco Battistotti, Chairman for Malaysian Association of Hotel “ Penang Chapter
Mr Rudy Hermann, Vice Chairman of Malaysian Association of Hotel “ Penang Chapter
Mr Desmond Hutton, Honorary Secretary of Malaysian Association of Hotels “ Penang Chapter
Members of media, ladies and gentlemen.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Malaysian Association of Hotels “ Penang Chapter for inviting me to launch the MAH-P website.

It is indeed laudable that the hospitality industry launches a dedicated portal to highlight the different accommodation possibilities in Penang.

The Internet is by far the widest distribution channel for hotels and it opens up tremendous opportunities to tap into this vital communication tool.

For this reason, the Penang state government has launched a new initiative of providing free wifi in the hope that we can be connected to the internet any time, any place, any where in Penang in two years time.

Tourists today are much more savvy compared than before. Through the internet, they are able to see places they want to go as well as see the hotels that they want to stay. For them, what you see is what you get. By searching through the internet, they are able to see the hotel they desire. They want to see what are the best attractions available, and with these packages, they want to match the peak periods and the non-peak periods.

For many hotels in Penang, the problem is not during peak periods. If during non-peak periods we can fill 10-20% more rooms, it would go a long way towards their bottom line. So, I think the internet portal is not so much to help fill in during the peak periods as you have no problems filling the rooms during peak period. It is always the non-peak period that decides your bottom line. Surveys, time & time again, show that the majority of travelers both for leisure or business explore the various accommodation choices online before making the booking or indeed before calling their preferred travel provider. With over 30 hotels on the MAH-P website, it would make it even more convenient, easier and better for visitors to make their choice of hotels to stay during their visit in Penang. Hotels in Penang are market leaders not just in north Malaysia but also in Malaysia, and I hope for the hospitality players to put Penang in the forefront of in the region. It will not be easy, but I believe we can establish Penang as the Heritage, Leisure and Food Gateway to Asia, then we are well poised to be amongst the leaders.

Over the next 16 weeks, 3 new hotels will open to the public and increase the variety and choice of accommodation targeted to different markets; namely the iconic Hard Rock Hotel in Teluk Bahang, Flamingo by the Beach at Tanjung Bungah & Eastin Hotel at Bayan Lepas. Additionally, the Golden Sands Resort is in the process of extensive refurbishment and the Lone Pine Hotel will re-open totally transformed in 2010.

The above developments in the hotel scene here in Penang demonstrate the commitment that both the investors and the community have in the tourism industry to be a driving force and a catalyst for employment and development of the tourism service industry here in Penang.

We offer tremendous opportunities in the tourism industry. We have not realized its full potential, especially in marketing, promotion and packaging. I think we also need to carry out a lot of awareness to see how we can project ourselves better and fulfil international benchmarks. Penang offers delicious local food, rich history, diverse cultural heritage and beautiful sceneries, and the most important of all, the hospitality and friendliness of the people of Penang. An advantage we have is that most Penangnites can converse in English, so most tourists here will not feel lost. Penang was listed by the New York Times readers in ˜The 44 Places To Go in 2009" survey. With the listing of Penang as a World Heritage site, it only adds on to the attraction, the luster and the special attraction of Penang. As a tourist destination, Penang offers visitors an opportunity to rediscover and experience the nostalgia of the good old days, while enjoying our new-world vibrance.

The government has made significant efforts to preserve its cultural heritage while at the same time supporting the development of new hotels and convention centres. We are looking into education tourism, medical tourism, trade shows and business tourism, how we integrate all this as a holistic whole, this will be our focus over the next few years. We believe with the help of the hotel industry, we can arrive at a win-win situation, not only for the industry but also for the people and government of Penang.

I urge hoteliers to give our visitors value for their money. It is not only about cutting the price, but also giving the best service. I would like to say, quality, reliability and sustainability. If you offer comfortable and clean rooms, trained, friendly and helpful personnel offering excellent service to their guests and world class facilities for the guests, I am sure people will want to come.

We have 6.3 million tourist arrivals in 2008 and through our various tourism promotion activities in the state for this year, we expect an increase in tourist arrivals for the year 2009. Our target is to achieve 10 million tourists by 2014.

With this public private initiative where the government and the hoteliers play their role, the target of 10 million by 2014 can be achieved.

Malaysia earned USD14 billion in tourism receipts in 2008 with Penang estimated by some reports as earning only USD400 million. We are earning less than 3% of the tourism receipts of Malaysia. There is still a large market untapped by Penang.

We have to upgrade and introduce new products and events to give investors a unique and unforgettable experience to get USD1 billion of the country's USD14 billion tourism receipts. This requires not only a new approach to marketing and promotion both domestically and internationally to get the USD1billion that we are targetting. If we master adopting a new approach to marketing and promotion both locally and internationally, I am sure we can achieve that.

A very important aspect that we have not given enough attention is the need to build Penang as an international brand. If we can brand Penang into an international brand as part of our aspiration to transform Penang into an international city, I am sure it will also attract more interest, more attention and more tourism. Penang must be associated with quality, reliability and sustainability. That is why you see some of our green initiatives, whether it is no plastic, to adopt the GBI index to make our city, our town, our building eco-friendly. It is important to attract the discerning, hip, young and cool traveller. This is what they would demand of the hotel they are staying in.

As a first step, we need to protect the brand name of Penang. Penang is a name known worldwide, but we need to build on it, or else it will be like just any other brand. If we can build Penang to keep up with the times, the name becomes more valuable over time. The first thing we have to do is to protect it, to make sure that it is not exploited by irresponsible elements to mislead and deceive the public to sponsor and contribute money. We are not saying that we are not allowing the word Penang to be used but we want to make sure that it is used properly. I have said a few days ago that the public must be careful. There are some who uses the word Penang to give the impression that it is associated with the State Government, but it is not necessarily so. Last year, there were some exhibitions and fairs where the word Penang was used and the impression was that the State Government was involved. Investors and participants later found out that it was not, and incurred some losses. When there are cases like that, police reports can be lodged and action can be taken. We can be persistent in enforcing the rules, but prevention is better than cure. We can take action after the event, but if we can save on the heartache financial losses by preventing it from happening, that is the route we prefer to take.

We must protect the brand name Penang. Even though we act as the custodian, Penang belongs to the people of Penang. As the representative of the people of Penang, we are the custodian of the name, that is the brand Penang. We are not going to make money out of the word Penang. We want to regulate and control it to make sure that it is not abused or exploited. It doesn't mean we are going to stop people from using 'Penang Laksa', 'Penang Hokkien Mee' or 'Penang Char Kway Teow', that will still be allowed to be used. But only those that claim, for example, if someone sets up a company called 'The Penang Tourism', for example, then it is not allowed, for they have no right to label themselves as the sole preserve of Penang tourism. The MAH Penang Chapter is not a problem as it represents the hotels in Penang. The Penang bowling association, based in Penang is not a problem. We are not going to regulate and punish those who are genuine Penang. But just as a reminder, we can if we wish to, but we want it to serve as a reminder that not everything that uses the word 'Penang' is associated with the State Government, and at the same time, remind those who wish to use Penang to comply with the necessary rules. We want them to be careful and cautious, and to check with the State Government as the State Government reserves the right to take action if it so wishes.

Once again, thank you for inviting me and let's surf discoverpenang.com.my together!