SEPANG: Bringing home gifts and souvenirs when you come back from your travels is an art that some have perfected beautifully — giving gifts that are conversation starters or souvenirs that encapsulate the giver’s memories and experiences during their travel.
After all, the word souvenir is of French origin and means remembrance or memory.
But for many of us, it can sometimes be a chore — finding a gift that brings a taste of your travels back home can sometimes take away time from your precious holiday.
As a proud Malaysian company, as well as the custodian of the country’s gateway, Malaysia Airports is introducing Gifts from Malaysia to give travellers the opportunity to bring back a distinctly Malaysian product by getting them at the airport.
For the past two years, the people at Malaysia Airports have been making a greater effort to develop a richer “sense of Malaysia” at its airports so that visitors can experience Malaysia’s unique personality at the airport itself.
“We have embarked on this because these days, visitors are seeking a more authentic and culturally attuned experience at the airport. Our latest initiative is timely because of Visit Malaysia 2020. This is also our way to support the country’s tourism aspirations,” said Malaysia Airports group chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin.
“We are lucky as Malaysia is culturally diverse, so we have this opportunity to showcase the best of Malaysia right at the gateway of the country. Not only that, through Gifts from Malaysia, we can spur the growth of small- and medium-sized industries (SMEs) in Malaysia.”
Malaysia Airports is working with the Malaysia Design Development Centre (DDEC), an agency under the Rural Development Ministry, which curates products from all states in Malaysia and also ensures that these products are exclusively designed and packaged, with each featuring distinctive Malaysian elements or motifs. Each product has a story behind it that makes it unique and attractive as gifts from Malaysia.
The products will be available from June and sold at the Sense of Malaysia Stores and several retail outlets at the KL International Airport (IATA Code: KUL), Penang International Airport (IATA Code: PEN), Langkawi International Airport (IATA Code: LGK), Kuching International Airport (IATA Code: KCH) and Kota Kinabalu International Airport (IATA Code: BKI).
Raja Azmi said Gifts from Malaysia was a follow-through of successful Sense of Malaysia initiatives at its airports such as HIMPUN at KUL and LGK held since 2018. HIMPUN invites guests to embark on a journey of discovery through a uniquely Malaysian showcase of locally crafted products.
It was also a display of Malaysia Airports’ commitment in supporting the national economic agenda by providing a marketing and retail platform at the airport, especially for SMEs. Potential entrepreneurs will be identified with the help of ministries and agencies such as the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
Under the Sense of Malaysia umbrella, retail outlets Little Malaysia and Delicacies of Malaysia have been opened at KLIA‘s Main Terminal, klia2 and Penang International Airport. These outlets specialise in Made in Malaysia products for tourists and visitors to purchase on-the-go at the airports.
Other initiatives are underway in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020 such as the introduction of travel retail exclusive items, which are branded Proudly Malaysian.
KUL will be one of the venues for KUL Biennale 2020, a mega-scale contemporary international art event organised by the National Art Gallery. As a lead-up to the event, contemporary Malaysian art installations will be showcased at international airports nationwide.
This collaboration will not only expand the reach of local art, but will also provide opportunities, as well as support to the artists by providing an exhibition venue that is accessible to the public.
Currently, LGK is displaying unique sculptures made from Langkawi marble created by 19 artists from eight countries who participated in the International Marble Art Camp in Langkawi from Nov 30 to Dec 13 last year.
There will be several initiatives at the airports to support the performing arts. Visitors can look forward to a preview of Puteri Gunung Ledang, a hugely popular musical theatre, at the airport in July 2020, as well as ground activation at KCH to support the annual Rainforest World Music Festival 2020.
“Malaysia has a lot to offer tourists and the onus is on companies within the aviation industry such as Malaysia Airports to promote inbound tourism. We hope that our guests will come back to Malaysia repeatedly to experience the warm hospitality of the Malaysian people beyond even Visit Malaysia 2020,” said Raja Azmi when asked on his aspirations for VMY 2020.