JOHOR is expected to welcome 15 million overnight tourists by the end of this year, says Tourism Johor.
Its director Suhairi Hashim said the state had recorded 8.8 million tourist arrivals as of mid-August.
“Last year, we targeted five million tourists and achieved nine million. This year, our target is 10 million tourist arrivals — these are people who spend at least one night in Johor.
“If we count the number of visitors who enter Johor for day trips, it will definitely exceed the figure so we only take into account overnight tourists.
“At this rate, we are confident of hitting 15 million overnight tourists by the end of the year as we will be organising the much-anticipated Majestic Johor Festival from Aug 26 to Sept 3, which will surely pull in more crowds.”
Suhairi said this after a press conference to announce the upcoming event in Puteri Harbour, Iskandar Puteri.
He said the annual event would feature local celebrities, sales booths, concerts and also the state’s football giant Johor Darul Ta’zim football club where visitors would get the chance to meet their favourite players.
According to Suhairi, last year’s festival attracted about 600,000 visitors.
He said Johor’s tourism sector was on the right track after bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic which severely affected the industry for about three years.
“I would say that we are about 80% recovered as we can see resorts, hotels and tourism attractions packed every week.
“I hope that all industry players continue working with Tourism Johor to introduce more tourism products to strengthen the state’s position in the tourism calendar,” Suhairi said.
Source from The Star