PUTRAJAYA, July 30 – The government is set to develop and enhance the infrastructure at existing ports to make Malaysia a ‘homeport’ for cruise ships, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook.
He said several improvements were being made, including increasing the capacity at Port Klang Cruise Terminal to accommodate more cruise ships and beautifying the surroundings of Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal in Penang.
Loke said that existing ports in Langkawi, Melaka, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching, although lacking cruise ship infrastructure, could support cruise ships if upgrades were implemented.
“The Malaysian cruise sector has shown strong growth after COVID-19. Malaysia received 1,055 cruise ships in 2023, bringing in 1.5 million tourists. This marks an 85 per cent increase in cruise ship arrivals compared to 2019,” he said at a press conference after the Malaysia Cruise Council (MCC) meeting on Monday.
Loke said efforts to attract more cruise ships and make Malaysia a homeport would bring economic benefits, given that most cruise ships currently only stopped for a few hours.
