Malaysia upbeat on more tourist arrivals

The Ministry of Tourism is confident that the number of tourist arrivals in Malaysia this year will be bigger than that of last year.

Its secretary general, Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng, when contacted, said: "We, at the ministry, are expecting it to grow this year over 2011."

He was responding to queries by Business Times on a Bernama report which quoted Tourism Minister Datuk Ng Yen Yen as saying that arrivals in Malaysia will drop due to unstable global economic situation.

Ong, however, was unable to provide any number for full-year arrivals in 2011 as the ministry has yet to receive the data.

Previous reports indicated that the ministry's 2011 goal is to achieve 25 million tourist arrivals, which are expected to bring in foreign exchange to the tune of RM60 billion.

This compares to 2010 when a total of 24.6 million tourists came to our shores and spent RM56.5 billion.

Source - btimes.com.my