“The relevant parties need to take measures to stop the issue, because the controversy will harm the tourism industry by provoking negative sentiments in related countries,” she told reporters here.
Leong said without the government calming the situation, the incident could not only exacerbate domestic ethnic tensions but also lead international visitors to look down on Malaysia.
“People from other countries might question why is there ignorance in making such provocative statements on trivial matters,” she said.
The controversy began after a group of people were seen waving China’s national flag during a parade near the Leaning Tower in Teluk Intan last week.
The Guan Gong temple chairman Soon Boon Hua later apologised, saying the Chinese flags were displayed by China nationals who attended the festival, and had not been planned by the organisers.
However, PAS had called for immediate action against the organiser, with party deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man saying that Putrajaya should not normalise such matters and assume that the matter had been settled with a mere apology.
Meanwhile, Leong said the World Research Travel Organisation (WRTO) aimed to push Malaysia to become one of the most important and sustainable destinations for research travel.
“The World Research Travel Conference (WRTC) this year is very important for us to start the ball rolling. This is why we are inviting everybody from the industry as well as speakers from various nations to join the conference.
“They can (be informed on) what research travel is and the future of research travel in Malaysia, which will be helpful to travel agents, hoteliers, attractions and other industry players,” she said.
She said in its preparations for the conference, WRTO found out that many Malaysian industry players did not know about research travel.
Leong urged the government to pay more attention to researching and studying future trends in the research travel market.
Research travel refers to trips for groups or individuals for the express purpose of conducting research.
“Malaysia is not only a country for sightseeing. We also have very good in-depth tourism products in different segments,” she said.
WRTC 2024, scheduled from Nov 3 to 7 at the Setia Spice Convention Centre in Penang, will start with two days of tours on Nov 3 and 4.
The tours include visits to some of Penang’s hotspots such as The Habitat in Penang Hill, Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm and the Pinang Peranakan Mansion in George Town.