Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said it is the time of the year when thousands of vehicles will be on the roads as motorists make a beeline for their hometowns.

"Even though people will be rushing back to their kampung, many tourists and visitors from outstation would be heading for the city to enjoy the holidays.

"This is shown in the statistics provided by the Department of Statistics which sees the movement of domestic tourists increasing during festive seasons.

"It is  important that road users, especially taxi and bus drivers, be extra careful on the road," said Dr Ng.

The minister said this after a gathering with about 145 appointed taxi tourism ambassadors to promote safe driving in conjunction with the  Raya celebration.

To date, the ministry has organised 33 training courses involving 3,339 taxi drivers under the taxi tourism ambassador programme since its introduction in March.

"So far, we have received positive feedback from users and there have been fewer complaints since the programme was in troduced," said Dr Ng.

Speaking on the proposal by taxi drivers on individual permits, Dr Ng said the government is looking into increasing the number of individual permits compared with permits given to companies.