IPOH (Dec 28): Taiping made history after being listed in the 2018 Sustainable Destinations Top 100 — which is an initiative undertaken by 13 organisations from around the globe to recognise tourism destinations that have worked hard to make a difference and take sustainability seriously.

In a statement here today, Taiping Municipal Council (MPT) president Datuk Abd Rahim Md Ariff said the council answered the call for nominations for the award upon suggestion from a visitor who was also a jury for the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Award.

“During the nomination process, we also submitted reports and inputs from several of our sustainable and controlled development areas such as Laut Matang mangrove forest, Kampung Dew, Kuala Sepetang, Kuala Trong, Bukit Larut, Taiping Lake Park, Taiping Zoo & Night Safari and Batu Kurau.

“These places have their own strengths in ecotourism aspects and capable of creating economic opportunities for the local communities, besides serving as heritage sites,” he said.

The winners of Sustainable Destinations Top 100 will be celebrated and receive their certificate at the ITB Earth Award ceremony on March 6 at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show.

For the record, Taiping had previously been recognised as the Best Destination Manager 2016 by the Tourism Promotion Board for the Asia Pacific; besides having received the Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Award 2017 in Best Heritage and Eco Travel Destination Category and Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Award 2018 for the Best Tourism Promotion Campaign.