I GREW up in Pandamaran, the new village adjoining Port Klang, which was formerly known as Port Swettenham until 1972. As such, I was intrigued upon reading the header of a report “Port Swettenham buzzing again with cruise ship arrival”.
But the report started with “GEORGE TOWN: After almost two years, Port Swettenham is buzzing with activities again with the arrival of more than 3,000 foreign tourists”, with the arrival of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship “Spectrum of the Seas”.
The vessel had berthed at the new Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal located within the UNESCO Heritage Site at Georgetown. A pier or wharf is only part of a port in a port city such as Georgetown, or a port town such as Port Klang.
Also, cruise passengers may be tourists on board cruise ships but they are only excursionists when they come to shore for a few hours of sightseeing, shopping and dining. Such shore excursionists benefit transport and tour providers, shops and restaurants.
They do not benefit local hotels unless the city is a home port for cruise ships, and international passengers would arrive in advance before joining cruises or stay in hotels at the end of the cruise before flying home.
Nevertheless, the benefit of cruise ships calling at our ports are beyond shore excursions, especially for ship chandlers. Ships regularly replenish large amount of fuel, water, food and other necessities at various ports of call.
However, if cruise passengers had wonderful few hours at Georgetown, they would return for more. They could fly directly to Penang and stay for a week or more, especially if the local tourist guides, taxi drivers and rickshaw riders could befriend them and invite them to return. – July 3, 2022
YS Chan is Asean Tourism Master Trainer for travel agencies, master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel & Tours Enhancement Course. He is also a tourism and transport industry consultant and writer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
