KUALA TERENGGANU: The World Cup 2018 in Russia has been identified as one of the reasons behind the decline in tourist numbers to Tasik Kenyir this year.
The number of tourists declined by 3.9 per cent or 25,775 this year. The other reasons are the absence of a Visit Terengganu Year promotion and the general election.
State Tourism, Culture and Information Technology committee chairman Ariffin Deraman said according to statistics, the number of tourist arrivals started to drop in January, with an overall 637,309 arrivals compared to 663,084 for the same period last year.
“The decline in tourist arrivals was because there was no Visit Terengganu Year Promotion by the state government, as well as the World Cup which was aired live from June to July,” he said.
Ariff, who is also Alor Limbat state assemblyman, said this in his speech when winding up the debate on the Supplies Enactment 2019 at the state assembly sitting today.
He said the number of tourist arrivals last year increased from the previous year.
“In 2016, a total of 413,000 people visited Tasik Kenyir compared to 637,309 in 2017,” he said.