PENGERANG: As part of preparations for Visit Johor Year 2026, the state will be corporatising its tourism arm by the end of this year, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

The Mentri Besar said Tourism Johor’s organisation must be strengthened as the state aims to be the main destination in Malaysia.

“During an audience with Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim recently, the matter about corporatising Tourism Johor was brought up.

“As part of the state government’s initiative to strengthen its tourism sector, Tourism Johor will undergo a corporatisation process within the next six months.

“So by the end of this year, Tourism Johor should be fully corporatised,” he said when met after the closing ceremony of the Johor tourism empowerment workshop at a hotel in Bandar Penawar here on Monday (April 29).

Onn Hafiz added that corporatising government-owned tourism agencies was not new as similar moves have been made by other state governments.

“By corporatising Tourism Johor, we will have the opportunity to employ individuals with strong tourism backgrounds so they can help market local tourism products.

“This is because Tourism Johor is the main agency when it comes to promoting tourism matters in the state,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Johor director Sharil Nizam Abdul Rahim said the move to corporatise the agency can help expand its management scope.

“Corporatisation for Tourism Johor is actually good, (and) will lead to improving the way we operate as the management would be bigger and better.

"It will also be easy for us in the near future to collaborate with private bodies, both domestically and internationally, to bring tourists into Johor,” he added.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/29/johor-to-corporatise-tourism-arm-ahead-of-visit-johor-year-2026