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Hey Jeff, Penang has my vote. But in all honesty, I think Penang has a LOT of work ahead before it is back to the state of the glory days.

Beaches need to be clean up, resorts restored, malls upgraded, public transportation fix, etc.

All the best.

The state may need to radicalize the local tourism sector this round in order to create a pocket of job relief for those who will be retrenched this year.

In addition to spa's and clubs a'la Phuket, consider low-budget shopping. Make Penang the place for that, in fact a hub for street stalls where tourists can pick good buys, whatever the origin of their items purchased.

If they only sit at the beaches, their money will only go to the hotels. That won't help the retrenched workers selling things to make ends meet who will also need some seed capital, sources of good stuff to sell, and electricity (plus water). The rental should be minimal and it should be clustered by product type. If the inbounds hit shore on friday, they can beach and club on saturday, shop and see on sunday (when the normal retail shops are closed), then outbound by monday.

Think about the logistics of making Penang Road a walking parade on selected days coinciding with inbound programs so as to enliven Georgetown.

While at it, think about how to rebrand Penang hawker stalls. Try Supertanker, observe carefully, and take it from there.

Readings
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Transportation is a curse to Malaysia tourism industry.

Thailand are well known for their convenient Tuk-tuk and SongThaew . And SongThaew easily beats Malaysia inferior public transportation with upper hand.

A tourism point capacity are limited by transportation capacity. When the traffics clogged up the place, you can't increase the tourist capacity.

Apparently, if Malaysia wants to thrive in tourism, State government MUST seize the transportation control from the bloated federal government.

In the international community, especially among Caucasians... PENANG IS ONE OF THE VENUES of interest in terms of tourism attracticism (if there's such a word!!)...

How long this view sustains depend on the PRESENT STATE GOVT in conserving spending (aka stopping the wastefullness of the previous BN govt) and diverting to lasting value-for-money projects to show that Penang is still worth the every US Dollar, Euro, Sterling Pounds, Aussie Dollar, Japanese Yen, Rupees, Rupiahs, Dinars... even Sing Dollar that they spend !!!