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Langkawi to get world-class Theme Park?
Langkawi the emerald enchantment of the north that was once a haven for pirates, has become world renowned in the last decade as Caucasians, Japanese and others discover and become enthralled by the abundant and colourful marine life beneath its turquoise green translucent waters, and swaying casuarinas on the white sandy beaches embraced by sunshine all year round.
Hollywood stars such as Oscar winner Jodie Foster, kings, queens and world renowned celebrities have come ashore to take well-deserved breaks.
The Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) is, however, definitely not basking in the sun, content with the phenomenal success, thus far.
The authority is in talks with an investor to build a world-class theme park. The investor is just as bullish about Langkawi's potential to be further developed. "Langkawi has some 6,000 rooms. Some people say that is enough but this foreign investor feels the island needs at least 30,000 rooms," said Lada's newly-appointed general manager Datuk Anwar Abdul Rahman.
Langkawi, which celebrates its second anniversary as Tourism City on March 24, will definitely see more tourism products being added to its attractions. Besides the proposed theme park, Lada will open its Marina Harbour Park at Pantai Kok towards the later part of the year. The RM20 million park will have international-class berthing facilities for small and large yachts, Immigration and Customs checkpoints, jetty and a shopping promenade.
Two small islands have been built close to the park as breakwater. Since its inception in 1990, Lada has spent more than RM1 billion on developing the island. This has helped to woo a steady stream of tourists, with 1.9 million visitors landing on Langkawi over the last two years. Langkawi's lure is such that it was not affected by the Sept 11 and Bali bombings. "Tourist arrivals remained strong despite those two incidents. Of the 1.9 million visitors, 1.7 million were Malaysians.
"On the newly-established Tourism Action Council Langkawi, Anwar, who is the interim management general manager, said the council would comprise people from the industry, including hoteliers and government officials.
The Kedah state executive councillor in charge of tourism will sit as chairman. "We are learning from two very aggressive states in the tourism sector - Penang and Sarawak - on how to promote Langkawi internationally to make it a premier world-class tourist destination similar to Phuket and Bali or even better.
"The council will focus on ensuring the island and events are promoted internationally. It has carried out promotions in Singapore and other countries. Anwar said Lada's aim was to ensure a variety of tourism products to attract everyone.
Those into eco-tourism could take the cable car ride up to Mount Machinchang to enjoy the flora and fauna, jungle trekking in Mount Raya or simply take a mangrove swamp tour.
Langkawi, a duty-free haven, offers fantastic prices on a wide choice of designer goods, crockery, textile and chocolates. Sun 'worshippers' are spoilt for choice, the island being home to many resorts by the seaside offering white sandy beaches and pristine waters.
Further development on Langkawi would depend very much on the capacity report being prepared by the Science, Technology and Environment Ministry. It is expected to be ready by the end of the year. "The report will very much determine how much more development can be carried out on the island. "We should probably have some mixed development without damaging or destroying trees, flora and fauna. We also have to manage waste disposal properly," he added.
LANGKAWI 27/03/2003
