MELAKA, Nov 27 — The Melaka government has spent RM5 million for the Visit Melaka Year 2024 (TMM24) promotion and publicity campaign, locally and abroad.

State Tourism, Heritage, Arts and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman said that the promotional campaigns included advertising in print and electronic media.

Abdul Razak (BN-Telok Mas) said that a total of 76 events lined up in conjunction with TMM24, such as the Hot Air Balloon Carnival, Bendang Nusantara and art fashion.

"The state government will ensure that all these events are well received, where the promotion throughout the country and abroad is fully supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC),” he said at the Melaka State Legislative Assembly sitting in Seri Negeri, today.

He said this in his reply to a question posed by Adly Zahari (PH-Bukit Katil), who wanted to know how much the state government has provided to make TMM24 a success, and the list of programmes which will be held to attract tourists to the state.

Replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Lim Ban Hong (BN-Kelebang), who wanted to know the impact of the visa exemption on tourists from China, Abdul Razak said that the state government will hold a great promotion in that country, to attract tourists to the state in conjunction with TMM24.

"Insya-Allah we will go to China to do a promotion, which will be led by the Chief Minister (Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh) because Chinese tourists are the most tourists who come to Malaysia,” he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, announced a 30-day visa exemption for Chinese and Indian nationals to Malaysia, from Dec 1, in the spirit of the strategic partnership of Malaysia-China bilateral relations, which will span 50 years next year.

The Prime Minister was quoted as saying that it is in addition to the existing visa exemption facility, which people from the Gulf states and other countries in West Asia currently enjoy. — Bernama