The RM30 million gigantic ferris wheel, dubbed the Eye on Malaysia, is not a popular tourist destination.

A check by malaysiakini with several travel and tour agencies revealed that tourists preferred to visit other places in the city.

"Well it's not really that popular," said Zairil Akhtar, chief operations officer of the Kuala Lumpur-based Colossus Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd.

"Tourists would rather go to the Genting Highlands' theme park if they wanted to go on a ride (on a ferris wheel) rather than The Eye on Malaysia," he added when contacted.

According to him, the gigantic ferris wheel is classified as "optional" meaning that the agency would only take tourists there if they make a request.

On the bright side however, Zairil said when tourists are informed about it, some 70 percent of them would want to go and see it.

"If we don't tell them, they wouldn't say anything about it," he added.

He said the Petronas twin towers, KL Tower, The National Palace and Batu Caves are the most popular destinations.

No directives

Another travel and tour agency, AAM Travel, also said that tourists would only visit the Eye on Malaysia when informed about it.

"Eighty percent of the time we would have to mention to them (tourists) and then they would make personal requests to go," said AAM official Norfahana Mohd Noor.

"We received no advise or memo from the company (MST Ad Suria, which operates the Eye on Malaysia) or the Tourism Ministry asking us to make sure that The Eye On Malaysia be included as an itinerary," she said, referring to city tour packages travel agencies usually offer to clients.

Muhammad Tamin, a manager with another tour agency A&A Travel, also said that his company did not receive any such directives.

"As far as I am concerned, our company did not receive any directives from them (MST Ad Suria and the Tourism Ministry) to include The Eye as an itinerary in our packages unlike the KL Tower," he added.

He said if there were any "big tourism projects, it's standard practice to receive such advises."

The Eye on Malaysia is a 60-metre high ferris wheel located along the lake in Taman Tasik Titiwangsa. It is modelled after the London Eye.

Comprising 42 gondolas, the giant wheel allows visitors to experience a 360-degree panoramic view of Kuala Lumpur during a 12-minute ride that goes 60 metres high. Tickets are priced at RM15 for adults and RM12 for children.

The Tourism Ministry had high hopes to rake in the tourist ringgit through the Eye on Malaysia.

Anticipating big business, the ministry even 'privatised' the running of the Eye on Malaysia, giving it to the newly formed MST Ad Suria Sdn Bhd, which is a subsidiary of Ad Suria, an event management company formed in 2004.

The subsidiary company was specifically set up to handle the overall operations of the ferris wheel.

'It's popular'

On Aug 10, malaysiakini reported that the Tourism Ministry and MST Ad Suria are trying to revitalise the Eye on Malaysia.

The plan is simple - the ministry buys thousands of tickets from the private company to be distributed for free. In other words, the ministry is bailing out MST Ad Suria.

Sources have told malaysiakini that tickets worth RM5.7 million have been snapped up by the ministry from the private company.

Yesterday, Chinese newspapers quoted Deputy Tourism Minister Donald Lim as denying that the ferris wheel was a failed project.

"We are very satisfied with the number of turnouts for The Eye. This (August) is the peek season for tourists to come and The Eye is still a favorite for foreigners.

"We bought the tickets to use it for promoting The Eye as a popular night activity and to parallel Bukit Bintang in its popularity as a nightspot," he added.

Lim said the ministry will release a press statement soon to clarify the matter.