MELAKA RIVER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2013

Melaka River International Festival 2013 from 25 May - 30 June 2013

Inspired by the San Antonio River Festival in USA, Melaka International River Festival 2013 is back for the whole month of June.

Among the highlights include a water sports fiesta, dragon boat competitions and decorative floats parade.

With more than 100 events prepared, this well-known state tourism event is expected to draw not less than 800,000 tourists. One of the famous event will be the Annual Melaka Dragonboat race where international teams are expected to participate.

For details, log into : www.melakariverfestival.com

RM 400 MILLION MARINA JETTY TERMINAL IN MELAKA BY 2015

Monday April 22, 2013

Malacca expects RM400mil cruise terminal and others to drive its growth By B K SIDHU bksidhu@thestar.com.my

Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Bin Mohd Rustam during the interview at Seri Bendahara, Malacca.

MALACCA: The development of a RM400mil marina jetty terminal in Malacca for cruise liners is in the works, one of many projects lined up to drive the state's growth.

the marina jetty terminal, Ali Rustam said it would be undertaken by Kejuruteraan Asas Jaya Sdn Bhd on a 121.81ha site.

“The jetty would be built for RM100mil and the needed land would be reclaimed for RM300mil. All these are initial investments,” he said.

This development will facilitate cruise liners docking at least twice weekly at the jetty. Each liner carries about 3,000 passengers. “Even if each passenger spends RM100 a day in Malacca, the spillover business activities would be huge over time,” he noted.

Tourist arrivals in the state in 2000 was 1.6 million, and rose to 12 million in 2011. Last year, the number increased to 13 million and Ali Rustam expects a steep rise with the docking of the cruise liners.

“That is also why we need more hotels and resorts to cater to this new growth,” he said.

The jetty terminal should be completed by 2015.

Malacca also made the New York Times' list of 45 cities to be visited in the world this year. This could be attributed to its World Heritage City status granted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in 2008, a report said. Ali Rustam has been the Chief Minister since December 1999 and has, over the years, managed to make Malacca more attractive to investors, for instance, initiating a one-stop approval centre to facilitiate investor needs and requests.

MELAKA CITY DAY ON 15TH. APRIL 2013

Melaka City will celebrate her birthday on 15th. April 2013. Melaka City has come a long way and visitors are coming in droves to Melaka during the weekend. Last Saturday night, I witnessed dozens of tour buses parked along Stadthuys. Tourists from overseas and outside Melaka were visiting Melaka. It was amazing seeing so many tour buses within a small area.

Certainly, the proclaimation of Melaka and Georgetown as Heritage cities of UNESCO since 2008 has a tremendous impact on both cities. In Melaka, a large number of budget hotels, international hotels and boutique hotels have sprouted around the city to cater for visitors and tourists. Some heritage buildings are converted into hotels and you can even find a quaint lodge at Jalan Kampung Jawa. This small hotel was recommended by Tripadvisor as well.