Tourism Malaysia to tap Asean market effectively

Tourism authorities are banking on arrivals from Asean countries to boost the local industry.Tourism Malaysia is enhancing programmes that bring in more travel agents on fully paid tours across the country.This month, Tourism Malaysia brought in more than 100 travel agents from the region. It is a short introductory programme for the foreign agents.

For the first two days, they are in Kuala Lumpur, then broken up into groups, visiting Malacca, Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and Langkawi.Of the 24 million arrivals to Malaysia last year, a total of 77% were from Asean countries, said Linawati Ismail, an assistant director for Asean promotion with Tourism Malaysia.

Our objective is to get them to create more Malaysian tour packages. We cannot neglect the Asean market. Whenever they enhance their Malaysian packages, it is always a boost for us.Linawati said her department was trying to promote destinations outside Kuala Lumpur.That's why we brought 18 of the travel agents specifically to Sarawak. We packed their schedules here.

She was speaking to reporters on Friday during a welcoming dinner here for the agents from Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and also Peninsular Malaysia.Meanwhile, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has released a new slate of marketing adverts, centred around Sarawak, Where Adventure Is.

In one of the three-minute video ad titled Adventure has a home, clips of the ocean was juxtaposed with the words, Our swimming pool, caves (Our playground), rapids (Our theme parks) and waterfalls (Our jacuzzi).Arrivals in Sarawak were at 3.2 million last year, and authorities have targeted 4 million for this year. In the first quarter of the year, arrivals in Sarawak jumped 9.9%.

Source = thestar.com.my