Malaysia Working Closely With U.S Tourism Industry Players - Mohamed Nazri

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The Tourism and Culture Ministry is actively working with tourism industry players in the United States to promote Malaysia, said its minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

He was optimistic that the number of tourists visiting Malaysia from the United States would increase next year.

On his recent visit to the USA, Mohamed Nazri said he met journalists and tour agents there to promote Malaysia since advertising in the US television channels would be too expensive for Malaysia.

"We have to use other channels, and one of them is to get close with tour operators, travel agencies and the media there.

"Perception is another challenge...they (the Americans) think that Malaysia is a fundamental Islamic country, that's the problem...we need to clear this perception," he told reporters after officiating the Malaysia International Golf Fair Symposium (MIGS) 2013, organised by The Malaysian Golf Association (MGA), here Tuesday.

Mohamed Nazri said a total of 240,000 Americans and 60,000 Canadians had visited Malaysia last year.

Malaysia's top 10 markets for incoming tourism in the sequence order are, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Brunei, India, the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Some 12.6 million foreign tourists visited Malaysia in the first half of this year, posting a 7.9 per cent growth over the earlier-year period, generating revenue of RM31.18 billion, a 16.3 per cent increase over the earlier-year period.
-bernama.