Tourism Malaysia posts 2020 vision_ Green_ Clean

At the Shangri-La Hotel Sydney, Minister for Tourism Malaysia, Honourable Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen addressed members of the travel and tourism industry, highlighting the important role that the Australian market played in its plan for an accessible brand of eco-tourism.

The charismatic minister, having arrived to the conference after breaking fast with Malaysian Muslim students, explained a multi-pronged campaign to attract a range of Australian tourists to a diverse, affordable and ecological Malaysia.

“The Malaysian tourism industry had a good year in 2009 with 26.3 million visitors,” the Minister said. “Half of these were from ASEAN countries, and 550,000 were from Australia.”

Tourism Malaysia looks to build on this recent success with growth towards 2020. In 2009, the country received MYR 1 billion per week from tourism and related activities; a figure which the ministry hopes to extend to 36 million tourists bringing in MYR 168 billion in receipts by 2020 (AUD 1 billion per week).

To achieve these levels, Tourism Malaysia has targeted six specific markets within Australia, including: (1) Families; (2) The ‘Golden Third Age’, or ‘G3A’, representing baby boomers interested in heritage, culture, food and nature; (3) Gen X and Y with an eco-tourism adventure focus; (4) Gardens and parks tourism; (5) Food tourism for ‘foodists’ and (6) MICE, which currently represents five percent of tourists but will be developed as the country hosts its first PGA and ATP events.

The Minister outlined intentions to lure more of the one million Australian transit passengers that pass through Malaysia annually on their way to longer-haul destinations such as the UK. The ministry hopes to capitalise on these trips with extended layovers in Malaysia, where “eighty Aussie dollars gets you a five-star hotel”.

Another strategy to reach the 36 million tourists by 2020 was “more mega-fams” (familiarisation tours) targeted at “foodists, media, and gardeners”. The Minister noted the “Australian love for beaches, islands, shopping, good food, education and heritage”, all of which are plentiful in Malaysia.

A predominant theme throughout the conference was Malaysia’s diversity offered through eco-tourism. As the orchid brooch glimmered from the lapel of her red jacket, the Minister spoke enthusiastically of Malaysia’s floral diversity as one of the twelve ‘mega-biologically diverse’ countries in the world, boasting 19 national parks with 130 million-year-old trees – twice the age and height of those in the Amazon.

“Tourism protects, preserves, conserves,” the Minister declared, before noting that the government would close diving sites if that was the action necessary to ensure their long-term conservation.

On the issue of deforestation and the displacement of Malaysia iconic orang-utans, the Minister proudly stated, “The government has a strong eco-tourism policy: no greater than 50 percent of Malaysia’s land will ever be developed.” According to the Minister, it was outlier examples of illegal logging that ruined the broader picture.

To increase accessibility to Malaysia, the Minister said that the government was working closely with Air Asia, who had “done well” to capitalise on globalisation and open up the region with competitive fares.

Before the function’s dinner, one of the Minister’s assorted, animated anecdotes recalled a visit to China during which she had to maintain diplomatic face by drinking 12 Mai Tai cocktails, all “to sell my country”. By the twelfth cocktail, she recalled, it was “a case of either he goes or I go … he went before me!”

Fielding a question from the floor, the Minister said excitedly, “I would love to go on your radio show, maybe to divert attention from your hung parliament! The whole plane trip I am reading about this Gillian … Julia!”

Sourced=etravelblackboard