News and photos Nur Fatin Farida Zulkifle
ALOR SETAR, 2 July 2026: The Tourism Promotion Organisation (TPO) Regional Meeting for Malaysian Members was successfully held at Dewan Mesyuarat UTC, Level 5, Alor Setar. Jointly organised by the Tourism Promotion Organisation (TPO), headquartered in Busan, South Korea, and Majlis Bandaraya Alor Setar (MBAS), the meeting brought together delegates from Alor Setar, Ipoh, Kampar, Kota Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuantan, and Manjung to strengthen tourism collaboration among TPO member cities in Malaysia.
The meeting featured Dr Amirul Husni Affifudin, Senior Lecturer and Researcher from the School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management (STHEM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), as the invited expert speaker and facilitator.
Following presentations by representatives from the participating cities, Dr Amirul facilitated a summary session, highlighting the common themes that emerged from the discussions. While many of the presentations reflected the principles of Community-Based Tourism (CBT), he explained that tourism development is increasingly evolving towards Community-Driven Tourism (CDT). He noted that, whereas CBT emphasises community participation, CDT places local communities at the centre of decision-making through a bottom-up approach, enabling them to initiate tourism development before receiving support from government agencies and other stakeholders.
Dr Amirul later delivered a 20-minute keynote presentation entitled “Heritage City Tourism: Reviving History, Driving Economic Growth.” During his presentation, he highlighted the close relationship between heritage tourism and Community-Driven Tourism, explaining that heritage assets can become powerful community-driven tourism products when local communities take ownership of preserving, interpreting, and promoting their cultural heritage.
Using Alor Setar as a case study, he explained that the city’s identity as both a Royal City and Heritage City provides significant potential for developing sustainable tourism through community participation and local leadership. He also highlighted the success of the Royal Heritage Experience: A Day at Istana Sepachendera 2026, a heritage tourism programme organised in collaboration with Universiti Utara Malaysia students. The programme demonstrated how partnerships between universities, local communities, and relevant stakeholders can create meaningful heritage experiences while raising public awareness of Alor Setar’s royal history and cultural significance.
The presentation received positive feedback from Madam Kang Da-eun, Secretary General of TPO, who expressed her appreciation for Dr Amirul’s insights and indicated that several of his ideas would be incorporated into her forthcoming presentation at the TPO programme in Fukuoka, Japan.
The meeting also discussed strategies to strengthen collaboration among TPO member cities through enhanced promotional initiatives, the development of new cultural tourism programmes, greater knowledge sharing, and stronger cooperation among member cities. Delegates further explored the possibility of identifying a host city for the next TPO Regional Meeting in Malaysia.
The programme concluded on an optimistic note, with participants expressing confidence in strengthening future collaboration between TPO, MBAS, and Universiti Utara Malaysia, particularly STHEM, in advancing sustainable tourism, heritage conservation, community empowerment, and tourism innovation.
Overall, the regional meeting reaffirmed the importance of Community-Driven Tourism as a sustainable approach to creating shared value while preserving and enhancing the unique identities of Malaysia’s tourism destinations.
