IPOH: Perak recorded a total of 7.41 million tourist arrivals as of the end of the third quarter of this year, the State Assembly was told today. State Tourism, Industry, Investment and Corridor Development Committee chairman Loh Sze Yee said the data was obtained from 12 local government authorities (PBT) and tourism operators, as well as based on a sampling of 209 out of 422 tourism products in Perak.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Hotel Guest Survey involving samplings from 40 hotels registered with Tourism Malaysia recorded the arrival of 609,249 international tourists with at least an overnight stay in the state, surpassing the target of 350,000 international tourists for the 2024 Visit Perak Year. This data was shared in response to a question from Goh See Hua (PH-Pasir Pinji) regarding the performance of the state tourism sector in conjunction with the 2024 Visit Perak Year.

Citing data from the Malaysian Immigration Department, Loh mentioned that 104,861 foreign tourists entered Perak through
Pengkalan Hulu as of last September, with the majority coming from Thailand (92,099 people), followed by Singapore (5,347 people), China (2,020 people), Indonesia (1,231 people), and Vietnam (1,111 people). Additionally, 63,974 international tourists entered the state through the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, predominantly from Singapore (52,025 people), followed by Australia (1,806 people), China (1,651 people), and India (1,279 people).

Loh expressed confidence that the state government could achieve the target of 8 million domestic tourists and 350,000 international tourists by the end of the year, highlighting the effectiveness of the promotion strategy and efforts to strengthen the state’s tourism sector.