JONKER WALK & SINGAPORE CHINATOWN TO PAIR UP

Monday May 21, 2012

Jonker Walk and Singapore’s Chinatown to pair up as twin streets By ALLISON LAI allison@thestar.com.my

MALACCA: The city’s famous tourist attraction Jonker Walk is likely to pair up with Chinatown in Singapore as “twin streets” to promote them as tourism destination.

Jonker Walk committee deputy chairman Datuk Gan Tian Loo said the initiative was mooted after it realised that Jonker Walk and Chinatown shared many historical and cultural similarities.

“Both places were one of the earliest Chinese settlements of our forefathers who arrived at then Malaya during the 18th century.

“They feature distinctly Chinese cultural elements and played important roles in the economic development of Chinese settlers at that period,” he said yesterday.

Although the two streets have evolved, he said, their historic elements were preserved and were now popular tourist attractions.

The pair-up as twin streets would help strengthen friendship between Malacca and Singapore apart from benefiting both cities’ tourism industries with millions of tourists arrival recorded every year, he added.

Gan, who is also Duyong assemblyman, said the committee had forwarded the plan to an MP in Singapore.

“A working trip to the republic with visit to Chinatown is also expected soon,’’ he said

He also said the committee was planning to turn Jonker Walk and 20 other streets nearby into a Cultural Town.

May 17, 2012 16:06 PM 800,000 Tourists Targetted For Melaka River Carnival

JOHOR BAHARU, May 17 (Bernama) -- The Melaka state government hopes to attract 800,000 tourists during the Melaka River Carnival 2012 to be held for a month starting June 8.

State Transportation, Information, Unity and Consumerism Committee chairman Datuk Ghazale Mohamad said the sixth edition of the carnival would feature 53 attractive activities from government agencies and the private sector.

"The carnival had attracted 500,000 visitors last year and we are confident the figure will increase this year," he told reporters when promoting the event at the Sultan Iskandar Information and Broadcast Centre here Thursday.

Ghazale said the international level carnival would also include competitions in kayak and parade of boats that would be open to foreign participants as well.

He said participants from Portugal, Holland, United Kingdom and a number of Asian countries had already confirmed their entry.

-- BERNAMA

BEST WESTERN MAKES MALACCA DEBUT

Best Western makes Malacca debut

Bangkok, May 9, 2012

BEST Western International (BWI) has opened Best Western Wana Riverside Hotel in Malacca, as part of ongoing expansion efforts in Malaysia (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 23, 2012).

“We hope to be able to help cater for a new wave of business and leisure tourists attracted to this historical city,” said Glenn de Souza, BWI vice president International Operations – Asia & the Middle East.

Located on the banks of the Melaka River, the 170-key Best Western Wana Riverside offers a mix of superior, deluxe, grand deluxe, studio and executive rooms, ranging in size from 29 – 40m². The hotel also features meeting facilities for up to 400 persons, a sports bar, and a riverside café.

BWI is scheduled to operate 15 properties in Malaysia by 1Q2015, offering more than 1,700 rooms across nine cities.