Three Tourism Malaysia offices under review for closure

As part of a rationalisation exercise, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) is considering the closure of Tourism Malaysia offices in Osaka (Japan), Auckland (New Zealand) and Almaty (Kazakhstan).

The closures are seen as a way of reducing operating costs, which range between RM67 million (US$16.3 million) to RM70 million annually for each of the three offices under review, said deputy minister, Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chi.

There are currently two Tourism Malaysia offices in Japan, one in Osaka and the other in Tokyo. Should Tourism Malaysia decide to close the Osaka office, its promotions in Japan will be taken over by the Tokyo office. Similarly, its office in Sydney will manage promotions for both Australia and New Zealand.

Raaj Navaratnaa, general manager at New Asia Holiday Tours & Travel, opined: “The MOTAC should not emphasise on cost-cutting measures but instead look at the value that these tourism offices can bring. It is no point closing the Osaka office and making Tokyo office look after the Japanese market if it does not include getting additional staff and having proper marketing plans in place to tap the Japanese market.

“I think the reason Tourism Malaysia offices are not doing well is because they failed to tap the potential of these markets. We have to re-engineer packages to meet the needs of each market.”

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