By V. Sivaji
The Penang Hoteliers’ Association (PHA) held its in-coming ceremony for its new committee for the term 2024-2025 held at the Noble Season Chinese Restaurant in Georgetown last night.
Present to witness the ceremony was by Tourism Malaysia deputy director and Penang Port Commission chairman, Dato Yeoh Soon Hin along with State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy YB Wong Hon Wai.
The new committee is led by new president Foong Hon Beng. It should be noted that the outgoing president Dato Lim Mee Lee had served PHA for a record of 40 years.
Others present was Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) vice president Dato Khoo Boo Lim, MAH Penang Chapter chairman Dato Tony Goh, deputy chairman Ben Ho, secretary John Kim and the executive director of Penang Centre of Medical Tourism (P.MED), Mary Ann Harris.
In his address Yeoh congratulated the new committee and wished them well in serving their members.
“I also like to show my appreciation for Dato Lim Mee Lee for his services all these years. I am thankful for his continuous insights and opinions provided to me as a junior in the industry.
Dato Yeoh
“Malaysia has set a target of 27.3 million international tourists to achieve a revenue of RM102.7 billion with the number of tourists especially from China expected to rise.
“The Malaysian government is actively collaborating with international airlines from China, Emirates and Qatar Airways to meet the demand of tourists from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania.
“The government has also offered visa-free facilities for visitors from China and India to boost tourism”, said Yeoh.
Meanwhile, Wong congratulated the new chairman of PHA and also thanked Dato Lim for his contribution over the years.
“I have just returned from Switzerland or a study of the new cable car system which is expected to be implemented soon. This will also help attract more tourists to the state.
“Along with this, we are seeing more and more direct flights from international airlines to Penang”, added Wong.
Guests were treated some find meals while entertained by a karaoke singer.
Foong delivering his speech