Bus Tourism In Malaysia Still At Its Infancy

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BUS tourism involves using buses for sightseeing tours around a city, trips to popular destinations and returning on the same day, or travelling long distances that require passengers to stop at major destinations and spending overnight as tourists.
In 1973, I worked in a tour company that was operating daily sightseeing tours around Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The passengers were picked up from various hotels in the city, and reservations were made by hotel receptionists who were paid commissions for making phone calls to book for one or more hotel guests.
This arrangement allowed many foreign tourists to join affordable sightseeing tours, without which they would have to pay much more to charter a taxi or hotel car, and the driver may not be conversant or speak broken English. Also, passengers on board a tour bus get to enjoy a better view seated higher up.
Although more than half a century has passed, few other cities are offering affordable daily sightseeing bus tours. As long as this service is not available, tourism in a city is still at its infancy. The next indicator are tours to popular destinations and returning on the same day.
In 1973, day tours from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka and returning on the same day were popular, but the number was insufficient to organise Seat-In-Coach (SIC) tours. So, tour cars driven by tourist guides were used for whole day tours to Melaka, and I was one of them. I also conducted transfers and sightseeing tours using tour buses.
Earlier in 1971, the casino and first hotel in Genting Highlands were opened. It was very challenging to drive up the narrow and winding roads up the steep mountain in underpowered cars. Over the years, the access road has continued to be widened, straightened and flattened, in tandem with rapid developments at the summit.
The management spared no efforts to increase the number of visitors, including subsidising daily bus tours from Kuala Lumpur to Genting Highlands. By 2019, the total number of domestic and foreign visitors reached 28.7 million, making Genting Highlands one of the biggest successes of tourism in Malaysia and the world.
In 2020, I wrote “String the pearls around Peninsular Malaysia”, which was published on Jun 17, 2020. I pointed out the eight major cities or destinations spread across the peninsula are like pearls. They are Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Ipoh, Penang, Kota Bharu, Kuantan, Johor Bahru and Melaka.
I proposed that a tour company provide intercity tours to connect the dots on a map. Stringing these pearls would put Malaysia on a world map for great road journeys. These SIC tours including hotel accommodation would be popular with foreign tourists and much more affordable than renting a car to explore the peninsula.
With tour buses running both clockwise and anti-clockwise along these eight major destinations, tourists can break journey and stay as long as desired at any stops, before continuing or returning to the starting point.
All pick-up and drop-off points would be at a major hotel to ensure safety, comfort and convenience of passengers.
Without this service, tourism will remain at its infancy in Malaysia, regardless of the hypes and promotions or legislations such as the Tourism Industry Act 1992, Tourism Vehicles Licensing Act 1999, Tourism Vehicles (Licensing and Control of Tourism Vehicles) Regulations 2000, and Land Public Transport Act 2010.
Recently, the Land Public Transport Agency (LPTA) suspended express bus operator Aeroline for a month after it refused to move its operations to Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS), which is 13km from the city but can take 45 minutes. LPTA must have considered its decision carefully and is unlikely to back down.
An acceptable solution can be reached if both regulator and operator think outside the box and exercise flexibility for the sake of the passengers and our tourism industry.
Aeroline First Class Shuttle Sdn Bhd could apply to convert its permits from Bas Ekspres to Bas Persiaran, and to be allowed by both APAD and MOTAC.
Over the past decades, excursion buses may pick up passengers from anywhere except bus stations, including major hubs like TBS. Visit Malaysia 2026 will ring hollow if no efforts are made to facilitate a larger number of foreigners to enter our country, including 22 million targeted from Singapore.
The number of Singaporeans would be less if those travelling by bus are forced to get off at TBS and then have to  go through the hassle of getting out from there.
However, the number of Singaporean tourists would increase if more can disembark at major hotels and shopping malls in safety, comfort and convenience. 
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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