【Summit Senior Figures Interview】Penang Expects to Hold the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit and Make the City a World-famous Tourism Destination

On the morning of September 18th, just before the Chongqing Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit started, The Travel Channel and the We-media of WTCF interviewed Luo Xingqiang, Director of Tourism Department of Penang, Malaysia.

Mr. Luo thanked WTCF for inviting him to come to Chongqing and attend the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit. He had visited China more than 30 times and knew that Chongqing is a famous city. Because of the summit, he is able to understand Chongqing more closely get familiar with the many sights in Chongqing, which are recognized as World Cultural Heritage.

Mr. Luo introduced the tourism characteristics and tourism resources of Penang. The city has charming beaches that will stay in the memories of many that visit it. Penang food is often called “Best food in Malaysia” by local residents. Ethnic Chinese account for 48% of local population, the biggest proportion in all the states of Malaysia. This is also the only state in Malaysia with an ethnic Chinese governor. The guildhall culture is very special in the ethnic Chinese community. There are over 200 guildhalls in Penang, with the title of Fujian, Chaozhou, Hainan, Guangzhou, or with the family name of Lin and Huang. This is also a place of cultural integration, with Chinese culture, Malay culture, and Indian culture living in harmony. Mr. Luo talked about the major tourists in Penang, which in sequence were from other parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Chinese, Japan, Australia, Britain, and America.

Penang is bidding to hold 2017 World Tourism Cities Federation Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit and Mr. Luo had great feelings for WTCF. He said Penang join WTCF in 2013 and since then, he has attended the Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit every year. The 2015 Summit in Morocco and 2016 Summit in Chongqing helped him gained knowledge about the member cities of WTCF better. He mentions, “We applied to hold the 2017 Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit positively because this is a good chance to promote Penang and make the city world-famous. Penang is a city of convenient transport and beautiful scene. There is no winter here, nor storms or earthquakes. The public security is very good. It is voted as the fourth of the Ten Destinations You Must Visit by Lonely Planet and the first of the Ten Best Resort Cities by Finance. We are very confident to win.”

Mr. Luo also answered some questions about shared economy raised by the reporter.