CONVERGENCE MAY-JUNE 2017

Badlisham Speaks
The View from
the Top
Managing Director, Datuk Badlisham
Ghazali speaks about the Joyful
Malaysia initiative by Malaysia
Airports and their commitment to
promote unique experiences and
diversity to both locals and tourists
We wish to prove that airports are more than
just entry or exit points for both locals and
foreigners. As such, we are delighted to share
the 'Joyful Malaysia' initiative which is part of the
'Total Airport Experience', a strategic thrust under
Malaysia Airports' five-year business plan, Runway
to Success 2020 (RtS2020).
Joyful Malaysia aims to provide joyful experiences to
airport users. It is our commitment to promote the
uniqueness and diversity of Malaysian culture and arts to
passengers at the KL International Airport (KLIA), klia2 and
other airports under our management throughout the country.
This initiative also runs concurrently with our silver jubilee
celebrations this year as we celebrate 25 years of existence
in increasing the country's profile. We hope to achieve the
country’s target of 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020. To reach
this target, we will be contributing in the government's
campaigns such as Visit ASEAN Year 2017 and Visit
ASEAN@50.
In line with that, during the Chinese New Year celebrations,
we collaborated with Tourism Melaka and held daily cultural
performances and promoted the state's iconic features such
as 'beca' (trishaw) at both KLIA and klia2. The collaboration
saw both terminals highlighting Melaka's richness in heritage
and culture allowing travellers and passengers around the
world to get the latest travel information including hotel
accommodations, tourist attractions, places of interest,
events, festivals, deals and promotions within the state.
The month of March was dedicated to a collaboration with
Tourism Perak as it was held in conjunction with the Visit
Perak 2017 initiative. Dance troupes, folk singers and potterymaking
demonstrations featuring Perak's iconic Labu Sayong
were among the highlights that took place.
Food is an important aspect within the Joyful Malaysia
initiative as it unites people and enhances memorable
experiences. As such, throughout the month of April, the
Joyful Malaysia campaign took the form of food festivals.
For example, the KULinary campaign was launched to
promote dining experiences at KLIA and klia2 while on April
6, the Nasi Ambeng festival was launched in collaboration
with the Selangor National Department for Culture and Arts
(JKKN) to introduce the country's cultural heritage, unique
taste of food and products as well as support the local and
national agenda to promote Malaysia. Meanwhile, our
subsidiary, Sama-Sama Hotel KLIA held their Sama-Sama
Food Fiesta between 19 and 23 April at KLIA's rooftop carpark.
We will also continue to work in creating memorable
experiences for passengers as we intend to work with other
state tourism departments in the second half of the year.
As the custodian of 39 airports and STOLports in Malaysia,
our focus will not only be on KLIA. We will also be conducting
some upgrading works at other airports including Sultan
Azlan Shah Aiport in Ipoh. The purpose of this is, of course,
to provide more comfort and meet passenger demands.
These collaborations and upgrading will not only benefit our
passengers but also the airport community as a whole.
Malaysia Airports is now among the world’s top five largest
airport operators in terms of number of passengers handled
and KLIA is among the top 25 busiest airports in the world.
Last year, KLIA surpassed the 50 million passengers per
annum (MPPA) mark and grew by 7.6% to nearly 53 MPPA.
However, our success is not measured by traffic growth alone.
As an airport operator and a service provider whose aim is
to transform into a service leader, it is vital for Malaysia
Airports to transform into a customer-centric organisation.
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