THE luxury cruise ship tourism sector will be one of the areas of focus that the Malacca state government hopes to attract more tourists, especially from abroad, ahead of Visit Melaka Year 2024.

State tourism promotion division general manager Sa’ari Basiron said that so far three cruise ship companies have agreed to work with the division to make Malacca one of the stopover destinations when sailing.

“In 2019, we received about 100,000 foreign (cruise ship) tourists who stopped by Malacca to visit tourist spots offered by appointed travel agents.

“Next year is our preparatory year to celebrate Visit Melaka Year 2024 and our hope is to create international-class tourism packages to attract more foreign tourists,” he told reporters in Malacca today.

He said this after attending a ceremony to welcome Ocean Odyssey cruise ship passengers at the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex of the Melaka-Dumai International Ferry Terminal in Kota Laksamana, Malacca.

More than 100 tourists from Europe disembarked from the cruise ship to visit some well-known tourist destinations in the state, especially around Banda Hilir.

Sa’ari said the division will create tourism packages based on history and heritage, that will involve tourist destinations around Banda Hilir in an effort to attract cruise ship tourists to stop over and spend a night in the state.

“Currently, luxury cruise ship tourists usually only stop for a short time, for half a day but in the future we hope they can spend a night in Malacca,” he said. – Bernama, December 28, 2022.