Tourism Melaka called out for error-filled guidebooks, issues apology

Tourism Melaka is retracting its guidebooks after it was found to contain multiple factual errors about the state.

Serge Jardin, a French Melaka-based author and historian took to Facebook to post a list of inaccuracies he found in the guidebook.

Some the inaccuracies include the arrival of the Portuguese colonists in the 16th - not 15th - century, how long the Portuguese ruled the state, and how Melaka is celebrating 624 years in history, not 750 years as mentioned in the guidebook.

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The guidebook also stated that Hang Li Poh, a Chinese princess, married Sultan Muzaffar Shah when she had married Sultan Mansur Shah instead.

Jardin pointed out that that there were mistakes about Cheng Ho, A Famosa, Porta de Santiago, St Paul Church and Cheng Hoon Temple amongst others.

"Please Tourism Melaka, you shouldn't take tourists for stupid, thank you," said Jardin in a statement.

In response, Tourism Melaka released a statement to publicly apologise for its errors and informed the public that it has ceased the distribution of the guidebooks at all tourist information centres, as well as e-book links on social media platforms.

In the statement, Tourism Melaka named its publisher, Bluedale Publishing and said that it had made reviews and corrections to the information. Tourism Melaka also demanded that Bluedale Publishing submits an apology and a letter explaining itself to the Malacca State Government for its negligence.

Tourism Melaka added that its general manager Sa'ari Basiron, the CEO of Tun Perak Institute Mohd Ainuddin Iskandar Lee and Jardin had a meeting and have reached a consensus not to prolong the issue any longer.

"Happy ending. Thank you, Tourism Melaka, action taken, books recalled, errors will be corrected, and a new guidebook will soon be at disposal of the tourists," said Jardin in a separate statement on Facebook.

This comes shortly after Melaka Tourism appointed Chinese actress Fan Bingbing as its tourism ambassador.

As part of her appointment, the actress had to promote the state's "Visit Melaka 2024" campaign that aims to reposition Melaka as an ideal tourism destination.

In a Facebook post, Melaka chief minister Rauf Yusoh said he believes that the presence of Fan will attract more tourists from China and Asia to visit Melaka.

Fan later kicked off her role in June this year when she visited key tourist destinations of the state such as the Baba House Melaka, Melaka River Cruise and local Peranakan restaurants. 

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Picture courtesy of Tourism Melaka / FabulousMelaka 

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