TOURISTS are returning to Terengganu’s Tasik Kenyir in droves, after Covid-19 previously brought activities at the popular spot to a halt.

The lake is seeing a three-fold increase in tourist arrivals, tour operators said.

They told The Malaysian Insight that apart from interstate travel being allowed last September, the closure of the main resort islands in the state due to the current monsoon season has helped boost tourist arrivals at the manmade lake.

Boat house operator Ilham Azmi, 37, said that Tasik Kenyir is a tourist attraction during the monsoon season, especially for anglers.

“In the past, it was common for customers to freely choose their booking dates, but now they have to follow the dates we set (availability), because of high demand.

“We are fully booked until February next year. I expect the influx of tourists to be three times higher than before Covid-19,” said Ilham, who has been running the business in Tasik Kenyir for four years.

He said the new Omicron variant has, for now, not dampened demand.

Last June, The Malaysian Insight reported troubles faced by operators at the lake as a result of movement-control order (MCO) restrictions.

It used to receive at least 817,000 tourists in 2017, but since MCO came into force, the tourism sector fell quiet.

This had a direct impact on the locals, who depend on the lake as their source of income.

Last November, state tourism affairs committee chairman Ariffin Deraman revealed that tourism operators there had lost more than RM1 million due to the MCO.

Commenting on the low tide incident that takes place at the lake at this time of the year, he said it did not affect tourism operations because it was a normal occurrence.

He said that every year, Tasik Kenyir will experience the phenomenon as water is discharged into Sungai Terengganu to make way for new catchment.

“It will happen every year. Only this time perhaps the lake water has significantly receded. But it does not affect our tourism operations,” he said.

He also said the boat house operators had requested the state government and the authorities to improve the infrastructure at Tasik Kenyir, such as the construction of a second passenger jetty.

Ilham said the main jetty in Pengkalan Gawi could not, at present, accommodate the increase in the number of tourists at the lake.

“This has resulted in congestion at the jetty. On top of that, parking is insufficient.

“So to avoid congestion, we need another passenger jetty. We have raised this matter for a long time,” he said.

Another tourism operator, Sulong Mustafa, 50, said the request for the jetty was to ease the minds of holidaymakers worried about the spread of Covid-19.

“Tourism appears to have bounced back last month, and when the island is closed it is a bonus for us because tourists will then move to vacation at Tasik Kenyir.

“In the past, the lake was only popular with fishing enthusiasts during the monsoon season, but families are also choosing this spot for their holidays,” said Sulong, who has been operating the boat house since 2010.

Asked whether the encouraging response could offset the loss of five months of no revenue, he replied it would depend on the consistency in the number of tourist arrivals.

Meanwhile, Tasik Kenyir Tourism Association chairman Zailani Endut said although tourism was back in full swing, it had not been able to fully restore the boat operators’ businesses.

This, he said, is because a majority of boat operators have bank loans and also have to incur high maintenance costs of between RM1,000 and RM10,000 before starting operations last September.

“That’s why I expect maybe in another month or two for the operators to be able to cover the losses incurred previously,” he said. – December 5, 2021.