NOT WITHOUT CHALLENGES
Even then, the project is not without challenges. Global growth is forecasted to be sluggish while global investment is expected to be weak, which will make it difficult to attract investors to invest in projects which can attract more cruise tourists.
There is also considerable competition for cruise tourism on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Penang, for example, is also a heritage city. It is bigger than Melaka and has well-developed tourist products.
Unsurprisingly, Penang has more domestic and foreign tourists than Melaka. It has also forged a collaboration with Royal Caribbean Cruises which upgraded the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal in 2021. The terminal now allows two mega-sized cruise ships to dock and can handle 12,000 passengers at the same time.
There are also reported plans to make Port Klang on the west coast as Malaysia’s homeport for international cruises.
To bring in cruise tourists, there is a need to develop attractive tourism products such as cultural shows, museums and handicraft activities. This requires cooperation with tour operators and the state.
In addition, there are sustainability challenges when large numbers of cruise tourists disembark in a small city like Melaka. As in the case of Penang, will Melaka be able to balance tourism with the preservation of its precious heritage status, which is the cornerstone of its attraction?
Hence while the revived Melaka Gateway project is now centred on cruise tourism alone, success in bringing in cruise tourists to Melaka extends beyond the mere construction of a cruise terminal and collaboration with cruise port operators. It remains uncertain whether the projected number of cruise tourists can be achieved in the short term and sustained in the long term.
Tham Siew Yean is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and Professor Emeritus, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. This commentary first appeared on ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute’s blog, Fulcrum.