Conference on ProPoor Tourism

The International Conference on Propoor Tourism ended in success.
More than 245 participants, including delegates, speakers and paper presenters, from over 30 countries attended the event. They came from many Asian, African and European countries, including Malaysia, Turkey, the Maldives, Senegal, Lebanon, Italy or Morocco.

Among the many highlights of the event was an exquisite and entertaining traditional Malaysian barbeque  ‘Hawker Style’ dinner prepared by renowned celebrity chef Encik Zamzani Abdul Wahab, which featured authentic Malaysian cuisine, cultural dances and music.
 

The International Workshop and Seminar on Propoor Tourism

The culminaiton of the conference marked the start of the two-week workshop and seminar for the 18 international government delegates, where particpants attended a training and referesher course on issues concerning propoor tourism and policy development. The workshop was conducted by faculty members of KDU College’s School of Hospitality, Toursim and Culinary Arts’ (SHTCA) Postgraduate Programme, headed by Dr. Rod Allan A. de Lara, Programme Leader of the (Swiss) MBA programme of KDU College.

The workshop ended on October 30, 2009, with a simple graduation ceremony graced by officers of the Islamic Tourism Center, headed by Encik Zainnudin Abdul Wahab Director General of ITC, and Mr. Alex Rajakumar, Deputy Director General of ITC. During the graduation ceremony that officially ended the workshop, Encik Zainnudin handed out ‘Certificates of Completion’ to all 18 participants.

Perhaps, the most memorable highlight of the workshop was the one-night ‘Homestay’ visit to Kampung Dorani in Kuala Selangor, where participants were given for adoption to foster families in the local community, to experience the life and culture of rural folks; and more importantly to have a first hand experience of the development and success of rural tourism in Malaysia; and hopefully to emulate and propagate Malaysia’s success in developing rural tourism, in their home countries.

On the second and final day of the homestay programme, Chef Zamzani prepared a sumptuous lunch shared by the community and participants, as part of his cooking demonstration on Malaysian cuisine.

Acknowledgement

The International Conference and Workshop on Propoor Tourism, was organized in collaboration with the Islamic Tourism Center (ITC) of the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia, and funded by the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) and the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Office of the Prime Minister (Malaysia). The event would not have been successful without the dedication and professionalism of the conferences’ secretariat headed by Ms. Chris Ong Siew Har, and Mr. Romzee, and of course, the student KDU Events Management Students who are truly the muscles behind this event.