LOKALOCAL EXPANDS TO PENANG, LAUNCHES 100 ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 30 (Bernama) — LokaLocal, a Malaysian-based travel marketplace established in 2016, has expanded their footprint to Penang and introduced 100 unique alternative travelling experiences in the state today.

Its chief executive officer, Chin Yoon Khen, said that the 100 tours and workshops unravelled the hidden gems in Penang to provide alternative tourism to the locals and foreigners, such as all-terrain vehicle rides, traditional wood carving, joss stick making and firefly cruises.

He said that the launch was in line with the national initiative to support Visit Malaysia 2020 tourism campaign.

“The launch of “The 100 experiences in Penang” campaign will also cater to the rising demand for experiential tourism, especially among a tech-savvy generation,” he told a press conference here.

Also present were Penang Exco for Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage Yeoh Soon Hin and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn Bhd (MDEC) Sharing Economy Adoption Manager Esther Lee Swee Thing.

Chin said that the platform not only aimed to enable foreigners to travel like a local, but also provide an opening for business opportunities to the service providers.

He said according to a recent study by Google-Temasek, 41 per cent of total travel bookings were made online last year and was expected to increase up to 57 per cent by 2025.

“We have studied the sites in Penang for three months to look for unique kinds of places and experienced them ourselves, just to make sure that tourists would enjoy themselves and would give positive feedback to us,” he added.– BERNAMA