Pahang targets 13 million tourists in 2023
KUANTAN: The Pahang government is targeting the arrival of 13 million domestic and international tourists to the state in 2023, said Pahang Unity, Tourism and Culture Committee Chairman Leong Yu Man.
He said he is optimistic that the target can be achieved following various promotions that have been and will be implemented throughout the year to attract tourists.
“Pahang has 11 districts and all of them have interesting destinations to visit. For this year some new locations will be highlighted including Mossy Forest in Cameron Highlands and Geopark in Lipis
“This year I am confident that the number will increase since international tourists can come to the state from the beginning of the year compared to last year when the border gates were only opened in April,” he said.
He said this at a press conference after the Friendly Meeting with Pahang Tourism Activists here yesterday, which was also attended by Pahang Tourism General Manager Kamaruddin Ibrahim.
In addition, Leong said the international events that will continue this year are the Fraser Hill Bird Recognition Competition, the International Sailfish Hunting Challenge, the Pahang International Rowing Challenge and the latest the Tasik Bera International Canoe Festival.
“This event is a tool to promote existing products, for example when there is a sea rowing challenge we can highlight the beaches in Pahang, while through the bird recognition competition tourists can see the nature we have,” he said.
Leong said the state government will also carry out online promotions in addition to advertising interesting places through magazine inserts found in Malaysia Airlines planes starting this April.
Meanwhile, he informed that last year Pahang recorded the arrival of more than 10.1 million tourists with tourism expenditure of RM9.14 billion compared to 2021 with only two million tourists and tourism expenditure of RM1.9 billion.
He said highland tourist destinations such as Bukit Fraser, Genting Highlands and Cameron Highlands recorded approximately 6.9 million tourists, followed by beach and island attractions in Kuantan, Rompin and Pekan with 2.5 million visitors, in addition to 706,000 individuals visiting natural areas in Temerloh, Maran, Lipis, Bentong and Bera.