BENTONG, well-known as an ecotourism destination, has been declared as the first “Fresh Air Lung Washing” destination in the country.

Tourism and Culture Minister (Motac) Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the choice of Bentong as the Fresh Air Lung Washing ecotourism destination was in line with the Natural Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) approach to introduce tourism destinations with product plus factors that could spur local economic growth.

“Early this year I, on behalf of Motac, chose Bentong as the destination of Fresh Air Lung Washing. This is because of its geographical position on the slopes of the Titiwangsa Range, making Bentong a priceless treasure for the country.

“It took us six months to develop this tour package and the results were very encouraging. This is evident since it was introduced two months ago, when 10 buses bringing tourists from China visit Bentong every month,” he said.

He said this when opening the Bentong Cultural Arts Night and launching Bentong as the Fresh Air Lung Washing ecotourism destination at Dataran Bentong yesterday.

Also present were Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, who is also Bentong MP, and Tourism Malaysia director-general Mirza Mohd Tayab.

Nazri said the move was in line with the ministry’s efforts to promote new tourism products in the country rather than products that were already known.

As a satellite town to Kuala Lumpur, he said Bentong has a variety of uniqueness that could not be found in other satellite towns such as Petaling Jaya, Ampang and Klang.

He said Bentong was strategically located as the main connecting link to the states of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia from the Klang Valley and the journey took only about one hour and fifteen minutes.

“The landscape is hilly and surrounded by green jungle with waterfalls, caves and various other natural assets while the beauty of its nature, that is still preserved, has made Bentong synonymous with high quality ginger cultivation and a fruit paradise, especially the Musang King (durian),” he said.

“The Bentong Gallery features the story of national figure Loke Yew, who transformed this district into one of his business operations centres. Bentong also has ethnic diversity, including the Orang Asli,” he said. – Bernama, August 28, 2017.