FUN RIDE: The double decker bus makes its first stop before heading for Langkawi for the Malaysia Water Festival
IPOH: FOR the first time, the Kuala Lumpur Hop-On Hop-Off (KL HOHO) double decker bus made its debut here, taking 60 passengers on a tour around the city.
The event, jointly organised by Tourism Malaysia and Syarikat Elang Wah Sdn, was held to promote the Malaysia Water Festival which will be held in Langkawi tomorrow and on Saturday.
The bus, which started its journey from Kuala Lumpur, will make several stops in Butterworth and Alor Star before heading for Langkawi.
Ipoh was its first stop. The bus stopped over at the Ipoh Railway Station where tourism staff distributed flyers on local holiday packages to train passengers.
There was also a group of 30 secondary school students from SMK Aminuddin Baki, Chemor, who were invited to take a ride on the bus from the railway station to Aman Jaya Meru Terminal.
Tourism Malaysia Perak director Ibrahim Seddiqi Talib said the objective of the KL HOHO bus road show was to distribute flyers on the Malaysia Water Festival and other holiday packages, as well as to provide an opportunity for the people to enjoy a ride on the double decker bus.
"We have plans to bring the HOHO bus concept to Ipoh as one of the elements to boast the tourism industry, if we can have the support from the state government," he said.
Ibrahim announced that Singaporeans top the list of foreigners coming into the state for holiday with 74,000 passenger arrivals via Firefly last year.
"Our state's best selling holiday packages are the Perak Food Trail followed by The Royal Belum Rainforest, Lenggong Heritage Valley and Cycling Trail," said Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia deputy director (domestic market division) Hishamuddin Mustaffa said the KL HOHO bus was introduced in 2007, offering 23 stops in Kuala Lumpur and incorporating 40 tourist destinations which attracted about 400,000 passengers, yearly.
The Kuala Lumpur Hop-On Hop-Off bus in front of the Ipoh Railway Station. Pic by Diana Yeoh
Perak state Cultural and Arts Department staff on top of the KL HOHO bus in Ipoh. Pic by Diana Yeoh
Source : http://www.nst.com.my/streets/northern/hop-on-hop-off-bus-in-ipoh-1.589958
