2005, 2006 declared Visit Malaysia Years
|
|
By Ranjeetha Pakiam New Straits Times
The Government declared 2005 and 2006 as Visit Malaysia Years.
Culture, Arts and Tourism Minister Datuk Paduka Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said the move would help the tourism industry recover from the setback it suffered last year. "We saw a drastic drop in the number of tourists visiting Malaysia last year due to the war in Iraq and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which hit the region.
"We now plan to spur the tourism industry with Visit Malaysia Years 2005 and 2006 as one year is too short to really make an impact and increase the number of tourists," he told a Press conference after attending the Tourism Malaysia Overseas Directors' Meeting 2004 at the Renaissance Hotel this week.
The tourism industry saw steady growth over four years before declining last year. Up to 10.5 million tourists visited Malaysia last year compared with 13.3 million in 2002, 12.7 million in 2001, 10.2 million in 2000 and 7.9 million in 1999.
Kadir said the ministry did not set a target on the number of tourists for Visit Malaysia Years 2005 and 2006 but would be satisfied if they hit 13 million.
He said a domestic tourism campaign would be launched on Feb 17 for 2004 and 2005 as a move to encourage Malaysians to visit the country's popular tourist destinations.
"An increase in the number of domestic tourists would help cushion the impact on the tourism industry should there be a drop in foreigners visiting the country due to a crisis beyond our control such as an epidemic or war." From this year, all hotels and resorts would be directed to submit a report on the number of local tourists staying in their premises to their respective State Tourism Councils in order to keep track of the figures.
The four-day TMOD meeting, which ended today, was attended by Tourism Malaysia regional and overseas directors, assistant directors and marketing officers as well as tourism industry players such as Malaysia Airlines, Malaysian Association of Hotels, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta), Pacific Area Travel Association (Pata), Malaysia Airports Bhd, Sepang International Circuit and KL Tower.
It was to monitor and gauge the scope of activities in the 39 overseas offices. Matters discussed included student and health tourism and the setting up of operations rooms to monitor the tourist numbers daily.
"We are also employing marketing officers in every Tourism Malaysia office worldwide to promote our country to foreigners. In countries where there are no Tourism Malaysia offices, the marketing officers would be placed in the Malaysian embassies and consulates," said Abdul Kadir.
The meeting also decided to have regional units in Tourism Malaysia offices to monitor tourist movement and activities in different countries.
On the outbreak of the bird flu in the region, Kadir urged the media not to overplay the issue as this would only harm the tourism industry.
"Malaysia is a safe place to visit as it has an efficient mechanism to prevent the outbreak of epidemics by conducting thorough checks on chicken farms and monitoring all entry points," he added.
|
Back to main page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
World Islamic Tourism Mart / Malaysia
WITM 2012 InCoMTHU Conference will feature quality and world renown speakers not only from Malaysia but from around the globe. In its 6th Year, the WITM InCoMTHU Conference 2012 will have speakers fro (16/05/2012)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Showing 12 news articles Back
To Top
|
|