KOTA BHARU: Once a tourist lure in Kelantan and a popular trading hub, the "floating market" is to be revived to bring back the "charm and glitter" to the domestic tourism industry.

Hotel GRV wants to revive the nostalgia of the floating market on Sungai Kelantannear the hotel at Jalan Post Office Lama.

"Synonymous with the hotel located by the riverside, we want to bring back the past glory of floating markets in the state," said the hotel's marketing director, Raja Rusmin Raja Mahmud.

He said the uniqueness of the floating market, a traditional market whose business is fully conducted on water using boats, ought to be commercialised to serve as a catalyst to the local people's socio-economic well-being but also to give "a shot-in-the-arm" for the domestic tourism.

"In the early 1900s, there were floating markets in Kelantan and were the economic hub then as waterways were the main mode of transport for the people in Kelantan.

"However, with the advent of roads and railways, floating markets lost their "charm and glitter" and were no longer popular and slipped into oblivion," he told Bernama.

"As our hotel stands on the bank of Sungai Kelantan, we feel it's apt to re-introduce the floating market to add another tourist lure in the state.

"Floating markets are very popular in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam," he said.

Raja Rusmin said this initiative was not solely to woo guests to the hotel but "to realise our objective to "bring to the fore" the various attractions in Kelantan to foreign and domestic tourists.

He said the idea to create floating markets received verbal nod from the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia Kelantan and travel and tour operators in the state.

"We hope to implement the initiative soon after several phases of discussions are completed," he said.

He said a jetty would be built from the hotel to the floating market to facilitate trading.

"With the agreement and cooperation of the relevant authorities, we hope to create a floating market in Kelantan well-known for enterprising women traders.

"The market will be unique as trading will not only be done on boats, traders and buyers will not be confined to one place.

"We intend to take tourists on a river cruise to enjoy the scenic view of Sungai Kelantan and to know the historical events that happened in the river," he added. — Bernama

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