Glamping operators urged to get ministry grading
06 Dec 2022 06:01pm
Roslan Mohammad (left) visiting the accommodation room of Boulder Valley Glamping, Teluk Bahang here today. - BERNAMA
Tourism Ministry Tourism Licensing and Enforcement Division secretary, Roslan Mohammad said a grading by the ministry will provide many benefits for glamping (glamorous camping) operators.
"The assessment and grading carried out by the Tourism Ministry on glamping operators give various emphasis especially in the aspects of safety, convenience and comfort offered to tourists.
"We also emphasise a number of other aspects, of which there are a total of 12 criteria that are evaluated subject to the location of the glamping site,” he said after presenting a grading certificate to Boulder Valley Glamping Penang in Teluk Bahang here today.
Boulder Valley Glamping Penang today received a three-star rating in the Innovative Resort Hotel category becoming the first luxurious camping retreat to be awarded the rating in Malaysia.
Commenting further, Roslan said the Tourism Ministry is targeting more glamping operators to be graded in 2023, but so far he does not have complete data on all such operators across the country as the industry fusion of glamour and camping is still developing.
He said that so far this year, two glamping operators have applied for grading from the Tourism Ministry and he understands that the operators are also in discussions to establish their retreats to facilitate the business of applying for licensing and grading.
"The Tourism Ministry stipulates the main condition that glamping operators must comply with before applying to get a grading from us, is that they must first have a licence from the local authority (PBT) or local government.
"If they cannot comply with this main condition, the ministry will not be able to grade them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Boulder Valley Glamping Penang general manager P. Nagaswaran said their success in obtaining the grading was one of the resort management’s ongoing efforts to make it more widely known to foreign and local tourists.
"We believe and are confident that after successfully obtaining a three-star rating in the Innovative Resort Hotel category, we will commit to obtaining a four-star rating after this,” he said. - BERNAMA
