Kedah Tourism, Culture and Entrepreneurs Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Salleh Saidin said Uptown@Adya will provide a cleaner and conducive site for over 80 petty traders in Langkawi to ply their trade.
"The refreshed trading space is aimed at portraying a new image for petty traders in the area and at the same spur the local tourism sector.
"The influx of visitors also debunks claims by certain quarters that Langkawi island is at risk of becoming a ghost town," he told reporters after launching Uptown@Adya yesterday evening.
Present were Ayer Hangat assemblyman Shamsilah Siru, Permodalan Kedah Bhd chief executive officer Mohd Azad Jasmi and Hotel Adya Hotel Langkawi manager Syed Muhammad Firdaus Syed Putra.
Salleh added, Uptown@Adya which emphasises on a cheerful and clean trading market is a pilot project that will be expanded as a tourism attraction under the Visit Kedah Year 2025 initiative.
"We have set a target to set up another 15 Uptown bazars in the state which will offer best service, cleaner stalls, quality foods and products by next year," he said.
Salleh added that as of September, Langkawi has recorded 2.04 million visitor arrivals, or 65 per cent as compared to the 3.2 million target by end of December.