Malaysia's tourism industry to focus on big spenders

From quantity to quality - that will be the new focus of the national tourism industry.Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said yesterday the "high income, high yield" strategy was to draw tourists with spending power.

"We have already held many events such as the Shoe Festival (Aug 7-10) and the Magic of the Night Flora Parade (July 12) to attract high-income tourists," she said when announcing the 17th Malaysia Tourism Awards (MTA) 2010/2011 to be held on Tuesday.

Dr Ng said 2011 had been a tough year for the national tourism industry, which was affected by the tsunami in Japan, floods in Thailand, the European economic crisis and the opening of a casino in Singapore.

She hoped that with the ministry's new plans for 2012, the industry would thrive again.On the awards, she said they were to outline developments in the industry and appreciate all the players involved.

A total of 364 entries have been received.The nominees will compete in 12 categories, including Best Tour Operator and Innovative Tourism Magazine as well as the prestigious Minister's Award.

"When the ministry first started out in 1987, the tourism industry only managed to generate RM1.7 billion (S$697 million) per year with only 3.4 million tourists coming to the country annu­ally."In 2010, we brought in RM56.4 billion and we're now seeing 24 million tourists a year," Dr Ng said.

Source - asiaone