By Nadiah Zamlus
SHAH ALAM, June 24 — Tourism Selangor is looking into new tourism programmes to replace large scale events and activities which had been cancelled or postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Its general manager Azrul Shah Mohamad said events involving mass gatherings such as the Bon Odori Festival and the Selangor International Indigenous Arts Festival (SIIAF) play an important role to generate the state economic growth.
However, he said the events were called off in accordance with the guidelines set by the Health Ministry.
“Tourism Selangor is assessing and planning accordingly new tourism activities that would be relevant during the recovery movement control order period (RMCO).
“We will update the public on the upcoming events through several easily accessible platform,” he told SelangorKini in an interview yesterday.
In the previous year, the 43rd Bod Odori Festival, which is the largest Japanese cultural event in Malaysia, was held on July 20 at the Panasonic National Sports Complex, here, and was attended by 40,000 people.
The annual event was organised by the Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur, the Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur, and the Japanese Embassy, in cooperation with Tourism Selangor and supported by the state government and Invest Selangor Sdn Bhd.
As for the SIIAF, which showcases the lives and cultures of the indigenous people, such as the Mah Meri and Temuan tribes from Selangor, was held for two days last August at the National Botanic Park, here, and had attracted over 10,000 visitors.
The event last year had also featured international indigenous tribes from Comoros Island, Africa, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
