KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's southern tourist spot Melaka has seen some 6.8 million tourist arrivals in the first 6 months of this year, up 21.1 percent over the corresponding period last year, and is on track to achieve 12.5 million arrivals for the whole year, the government said. The state recorded 5.6 million tourist arrivals between January and June last year, said Abd Kadir Idris, general manager of the Tourism Promotion Division in the Melaka Chief Minister's Department. “Melaka is on the right track to achieving 12.5 million tourist arrivals this year in conjunction with the 750th anniversary of Melaka,” he told Bernama news agency. Abd Kadir said domestic tourists continued to be the highest, registering five million or 74.63 percent of the total arrivals, compared to 1.8 million foreign arrivals or 25.37 percent. A majority of the foreign tourists are from China, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, contributing to 1.1 million tourist arrivals in all. Abd Kadir said the rise in the number of tourists was the result of close cooperation between the Melaka state government and the various players in the tourism industry, ranging from hotel operators to trishaw riders. He also said that the opening of the RM73 million Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex at the mouth of the Melaka River on August 1, would provide a major boost to drawing more tourists to Melaka. The CIQ, which would be a major gateway to Dumai and Bengkalis in Indonesia, would further facilitate tourist travel, besides the Melaka international airport in Batu Berendam, he said.
