KOTA BARU: A total of 800,000 tourists from Thailand have been recorded entering Kelantan in the first six months of this year.
State Tourism, Culture, Arts, and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Kamaruddin Md Noor said another 700,000 people were recorded entering the state via the air route.
"From January until June this year, the number of tourists entering Kelantan recorded is about 1.5 million. This was based on the statistics recorded by the Immigration Department.
"Based on this figure, the state government is confident that we can achieve our target on tourist arrival in conjunction with Visit Kelantan Year 2024," he added.
He noted that the reception of tourists from various countries entering Kelantan from Thailand is very encouraging.
"Many have reported that only Malaysians visit Thailand, while in Kelantan, we have recorded 800,000 tourists entering through three entry points from Thailand in six months. The majority are Thai nationals, along with some from other countries."
Meanwhile, Kamaruddin said the state government is planning to move the Rantau Panjang duty-free zone to a more strategic location.
He said this was because the duty-free zone is currently located in the village area.
"We realise that the number of tourists who visited the Rantau Panjang duty-free zone lately were less than those who visited Pengkalan Kubor duty-free zone.
"The state government also found that Rantau Panjang duty-free zone was located in unsuitable area which is in the village area.
"Therefore, we have decided to relocate the duty-free zone to another area," he said.
He told reporters this after launching the state-level Mid Autumn Festival here last night.
Kamarudin said the matter including the new site for the duty-free zone, however, was still under discussion.
Kelantan has three duty-free zones. Besides Rantau Panjang and Pengkalan Kubur, the other duty-free zone was in Bukit Bunga.