After several teething problems in promoting Visit Perak Year (VPY) 2012, the state should have no hesitation reaping in the rewards from the boost in its tourist trade and economy. We were told that emphasis had been placed on local firms and complaints from citizens and businesses had been addressed.

But did the Perak tourism Committee enlist the help of people and organisations responsible for bringing in the tourists? How well is Perak promoted in any of the Malaysian Tourism offices worldwide?

Last November, Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association Perak branch chairman Jimmy Goh complained to a local daily, about the lack of publicity and direction of the VPY campaign.

"We have been hearing about the event since early this year but to date, none of our members have been called to attend any meeting or briefing on VPY 2012".

The manager of a boutique hotel in Ipoh, who requested anonymity, claimed that the committee had failed to engage hoteliers.

"Up until now, we do not know what are the events and attractions in the state which are being promoted.

"Is VPY 2012 about the state’s nature trail or is it a food trail?"

Mentri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said that Perak had the perfect mix of friendly people, the sea and the hills to assure VPY’s success. He approved an allocation of RM30,000 for every district to pay for billboards and bunting to promote VPY 2012.

The State Tourism Committee chairman Hamidah Osman brushed aside concerns and expressed satisfaction with the preparations.

"After this, he (Zambry) will be meeting with main players in the tourism industry, including hoteliers, to ensure they are prepared for the campaign……….The state will also be conducting courses for front-liners in the industry…….hotel receptionists, front-office staff and tour guides to expose them to the correct ways of dealing with tourists and equipping them with information on the campaign."

Hamidah said that Sabah Tourism would help Perak promote VPY 2012 because both states shared "the same tagline, which is Nature and Heritage."

Despite the official announcements, what is it that makes VPY 2012 special? How did Perak prepare for VPY? Does the outside world know about Perak?

Calls to the major hotels in town, returned disappointing results.

At a new hotel located near the Ipoh hospital, no one bothered to pick up the phone despite repeated attempts.

At a major hotel close to the Ipoh City Council, an employee explained in broken English, "VPY 2012 is Perak visit."

When pressed for a detailed explanation of ‘Perak visit’, she said, "Our tourism is based on VPY. Perak visit lor………"

Were hotels offering special promotions during VPY? No, the receptionist replied. The usual deals were the only ones on offer: "No special rates. Nothing for VPY".

The high-rise hotel along the old Jalan Gopeng was equally ill-prepared.

"Don’t have brochure. You phone Perak Tourism office. They tell you VPY."

Perhaps the Sabah Tourism office in Kota Kinabalu would be able to help.

When contacted, a member of staff said that information on VPY was only available from the Tourism Malaysia office, in Kota Kinabalu. He reiterated that Sabah Tourism only had information on Sabah.

The Tourism Malaysia office did not answer their telephone.

Despite Hamidah telling us Sabah Tourism would help promote VPY because of "our shared tagline of ‘Nature and Heritage’", this line of enquiry proved fruitless.

Last year, after Hamidah’s announcement about VPY 2012, Ipoh Mayor Roshidi Hashim, confirmed that the Ipoh City Council was serious about promoting the state.

He expressed support by kickstarting VPY 2012 with a visit to Xiamen, Fujian and Shenyang, as part of a Ministry of Tourism’s "Sales Mission to China" delegation led by Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen. They went to promote, amongst other things, ‘Ipoh food; as part of Tourism Malaysia’s "Fabulous Food 1Malaysia" programme.

This was encouraging news as the Mayor and Tourism Minister would have highlighted VPY 2012.

There are three Malaysia Tourism China offices in China, but the results of phone calls to these offices, are hilarious.

The Tourism Malaysia offices said they had no information on Perak or VPY, but asked me to contact the Malaysian consulate in Shanghai. When I phoned the Malaysian consulate, a dopey voice told me to contact the Tourism Malaysia office. I was given the run-around between the two.

Feeling thoroughly dejected, I wondered if the Tourism Malaysia office in Singapore was better informed, only because of its close proximity to peninsular Malaysia.

The Tourism Malaysia website lists numbers for their overseas locations, but I soon found that the number for the Singapore office was incorrect.

I tried two other country locations; Tourism Malaysia in London, England and Tourism Malaysia in Australia, which has offices in Sydney and Perth.

The lady at the London office said she was unaware that VPY meant special promotions or offers like discounted travel, room rates or events. She confirmed that she had no specific information on VPY 2012 and only had the usual leaflets on Perak.

I tried the UK travel agents listed on the Tourism Malaysia site and only one answered the phone, to say, the office was closed and would not reopen until the following week.

I then tried Australia. The man in the Sydney office was very helpful but was unable to help me with my request for information about visiting tin mines, tin dredges/ships or tin museums in Perak.

He said he was not aware there were tourist attractions related to tin, in Perak. He advised me to phone the Malaysian Trade Office, in Sydney.

Despite my request for attractions in Perak because of VPY, he provided instead, details of the Royal Selangor Pewter factory, in Kuala Lumpur. He clarified that he had not been given specific information on VPY.

But the best answers were given by the Tourism Malaysia Perth office where the lady who answered the phone, also confirmed that she had no information on VPY and told me that "Perak" meant "tin". Alas, Perak does not mean tin.

When pressed for three attractions in Perak, she suggested: "There are colonial buildings in Ipoh. Or you could go to Cameron Highlands….. ….that’s about it".

Sensing my disappointment about the lack of tourist sites to explore in Perak, during VPY she added, "You could always go to Penang. There’s more to do there."

(The views expressed above belongs to the author in its entirety and does not represent the opinion of Malaysian Mirror in any way)