Penang is ready to welcome tourists from China with the resumption of direct flights from Guangzhou to Penang starting tomorrow March 1, 2023.
Penang State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy YB Yeoh Soon Hin said that to this effect, a series of campaigns and initiatives planned with Tourism Malaysia, strategic partners, airliners and Online Travel Agency (OTA).
Yeoh said that even when China imposed cross-border travel restrictions, the Penang State Government has never ceased its promotional effort to ensure the suitability of the tourism industry.
“The promotional efforts were carried out in three phases to resolve challenges faced in pre-, during and post-pandemic timeline.
“Brand awareness campaigns were placed in major social media platforms like Weibo and WeChat to increase and continue the brand’s exposure in the Chinese market.
“Before China eases its travel restrictions, Penang has been working closely with Tourism Malaysia through China Office to conduct webinar sessions that allowed us to continuously share and update the latest tourism products available from Penang to the travel agencies in China.
“The visit of a high-profile Key Opinion Leader (KOL), Kaidi Planet to Penang, is also part of the collaboration between the two parties with the aim to improve the exposure of destination awareness through materials published on their millions-over-followers social media platforms.” said Yeoh in a press statement.
He also added that multiple effort and collaboration have been made not only with Tourism Malaysia but also airliners.
“With the reopening of the international borders in China, China Southern Airlines will be resuming its Guangzhou-Penang direct flight, starting from March 1, 2023 and the Penang State Government will be kickstarting its collaboration with China Southern Airlines.
He also highlighted that prior to the resumption of the Guangzhou-Penang direct flight, China Southern Airlines has sent two Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) – “Lewanrizhi” and Timetrees to Penang to get their first-hand insights of what Penang has to offer, which will then be shared to their social media platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book).
“This will increase Penang’s brand awareness in the Chinese market on a much greater scale and ultimately influence followers’ preference to make Penang as their preferred destination.” said Yeoh.
The first flight from Guangzhou by China Southern Airlines is expected to land at Penang International Airport tomorrow evening.