the relish dish

Malaysians, it seems, are not a travelling lot when it comes to domestic destinations, and this worries the Tourism Minister. He thinks this is because Malaysians are not aware that there are lots of places to visit in the country.

"We want our people to spend their vacations in Malaysia as we are worried that there may be more Malaysians visiting other countries than foreign tourists coming to Malaysia," he was quoted by a local daily. He also said his Ministry would re-examine plans to encourage Malaysians to travel domestically.

Well, his planners should not have to go far to come up with a least one good suggestion on how to encourage Cuti-Cuti Malaysia. Just flip the pages of the same daily and they would see that while one travel agency is offering a 3D2N tour package to Langkawi for RM1,389.00, another agency is charging RM759.00 for a 4D3N package to Medan/Lake Toba, and RM859 for a 3D2N tour to Bali. And another agency boasts that its 5D4N package to Hong Kong costs only RM1,199.00, while its 6D Korean package is only RM1,799.00.

Turn to another page, a 4D Hong Kong/Shenzhen package costs only RM788.00, while 6-to-8 day China packages would set one back only by RM1,388.00 to RM1,499.00. So please do the maths, and see why there are more Malaysians travelling overseas.

Another thing the Ministry's planners may want to look at is the tourist-friendliness of Malaysia's destinations. Are these places and their attractions well-maintained? Are people there friendly? What about service?

I travel quite often, within the country as well as overseas. Some of these places I return to repeatedly because I like what I experience there. And I wish I had not stepped my foot at some other places because they are dirty, lack amenities, and the service people are rude or inconsiderate. You pay for your vacation through your nose, and you end up smelling and getting crap.

And that's really the sad part of Cuti-Cuti Malaysia.