Malaysia Courts Hong Kong's Upper-end Tourists

HONG KONG, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Flanked by an array of marketing and public relation measures, Tourism Malaysia is aggressively courting upper-end tourists from Hong Kong which itself is making a strong pitch to attract foreign tourists including Malaysians. Zaliha Zainuddin, Tourism Malaysia's Hong Kong-based director, sounded upbeat about attracting Hong Kong tourists who, she maintained, were drawn by Malaysia's picturesque landscape and a variety of tourist attractions. Describing Hong Kong as a "mature upmarket", Zaliha said that Hong Kong tourists spend more money than their counterparts from mainland China in Malaysia. "Hong Kong is a demanding upper-end market," Zaliha told Bernama. Tourism Malaysia's Hong Kong office has been doing a great deal of campaigning in Hong Kong, including the television drama series 'Born Rich' which, Zaliha claimed, was a 'big success'. The state of Sabah with its pristine waters, white sandy beaches, unique marine and wild life as well as sophisticated infrastructure conducive to attracting tourism, exudes a strong appeal to Hong Kong tourists.
SABAH IS SO POPULAR
Indeed, Sabah is so popular that there are direct flights from Hong Kong to Kota Kinabalu in response to the growing demand from Hong Kong tourists. "We are confident that we can bring tourist traffic for the niche segments of tourism such as diving, golfing, and others to Sipadan. The average Hong Kong tourist thinks of food, golf, diving and shopping when visiting any destination. Malaysia offers all these attributes," she said.According to feedback gathered by Tourism Malaysia's Hong Kong office, the 'Pavilion' shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur was 'extremely popular' with Hong Kong tourists. "In fact, Kuala Lumpur with all its interesting historic, cultural and culinary attributes, was itself a popular destination for many groups of foreign destinations," Zaliha said. Meanwhile, Malaysia has enhanced its connectivity with Hong Kong, with a number of airlines such as MAS, Cathay Pacific, Air Asia, Dragon Air, increasing the flight frequency with the former British colony. According to estimated arrival figures, Hong Kong, China and Macau together accounted for more than one million tourists in 2009 in Malaysia, a 7.3 percent growth over 2008.
LEISURE AND BUSINESS TRAVELLERS
Hong Kong visitors to Malaysia, on the other hand, comprised a mix of leisure and business travellers, accounting a 60:40 ratio. "Yes, we are quite upbeat about tourism from Hong Kong to Malaysia," Zaliha said. Even as Malaysia is positioning itself to lure more Hong Kong tourists, the former British colony is equally interested to attract both leisure and business travellers from South East Asia, including Malaysia, to Hong Kong. Gilly Wong, who heads the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) operations at the Hong Kong Tourism Board, explained the HKTB's MICE strategy. "MICE visitors to Hong Kong from around the globe, including Malaysia, are very important for us. These are, essentially, high-spending buinesss travellers who also invest here. We have had robust traffic from several Asian countries, including Malaysia," Wong said in an interview with Bernama.
MICE TRAVELLERS
Hong Kong recorded 3.5 million business travellers in 2009, of whom 38 percent were MICE travellers, said Zaliha. "According to our estimates, an average MICE business traveller spends about US$1000 for a two to three day visit for a two/three day visit, excluding expenses on hotel, airfare and other incidentals. "The total MICE revenue generated in 2009 amounted to about US$1.85 billion," Wong said. Perhaps, Tourism Malaysia's strategic planners could take a leaf from Hong Kong's efforts to attract cash-rich business travellers, including the Mice visitors. Although Hong Kong suffered a 15.4 percent drop in its overall arrivals in 2009 due to the global economic slump, the number of MICE visitors stabilised in the same year.-- BERNAMA

REPORT ON THE CENSUS OF HOMESTAY - MALAYSIA 2008

The Report on the Census of Homestay - Malaysia 2008 is now available from Department of Statistics, Malaysia at RM 25.00 per book.
http://www.statistics.gov.my/

January 2010 Tourists Arrival To Malaysia

Malaysia registered a total 1,896,918 tourists in the 1st month of 2010, and increase of 1.4% compared to the same period in the previous year. The top 10 generating markets are:
1. Singapore ~ 1,001,806
2. Indonesia ~ 202,124
3. Thailand ~ 97,050
4. China (including Hong Kong & Macau) ~ 95,473
5. Brunei ~ 67,544
6. Australia ~ 54,136
7. India ~ 48,426
8. United Kingdom ~32,739
9. Philippines ~ 32,040
10. Japan ~ 30,757

MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX SALE (MGP 2010)

The Malaysia Grand Prix Sale (MGP 2010) begins on 6 March 2010 until 11 April 2010.

Main highlight of this year's MGP Sales will be the Malaysian International Shoe Festival which will take place from 2 ~ 4 April 2010 at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

http://www.tourism.gov.my/gpsale/default.asp

M-YES SHOPPING CENTRE AWARDS

9 malls, 3 departmental stores & 63 retails or specialty outlets participated in the Best Window Display & Shopping Centre Awards during the Malaysia Year End Sales (M-YES 2009) which ran from 21 November 2009 to 3 January 2010. The winners are:-

Best Window Display Contest & Best Innovative Display (Departmental Store Category)
Winner: TANGS @ PAVILION KUALA LUMPUR

Best Window Display Contest & Best Innovative Display (Specialty Shop Category)
Winner: FIORUCCI @ THE GARDENS MALL

Shopping Centre Awards & Best Thematic Decoration (Central Business District)
Winner: PAVILION KUALA LUMPUR

Shopping Centre Awards & Best Thematic Decoration (Suburban)
Winner: SUNWAY PYRAMID SHOPPING MALL

Shopping Centre Awards & Best Promotions & Events (Central Business District)
Winner: MID VALLEY MEGAMALL

Shopping Centre Awards & Best Promotion & Events (Suburban)
Winner: SUNWAY PYRAMID SHOPPING MALL

736 Atheletes For Langkawi Ironman

LANGKAWI, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- A total of 736 athletes from 41 countries have confirmed their participation at the Langkawi Ironman 2010 here on Feb 27, event director Datuk A. Chandrakumanan said.Defending champions for both men and women categories respectively, Luke Mackenzie and Belinda Granger, both from Australia were among those who confirmed their participation, he said when contacted.The athletes were from Germany, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, the United States, Italy, Argentina, Belgium, Australia, Canada and Asean countries, he added.He said the organiser also received participations from 225 local athletes including former national cyclists Mohd Hafiz Wong Abdullah.The champhionship offers US$50,000(RM170,500) in cash and involves three disciplines namely swimming (3.8km), cycling (180km) and running (42.2km).-- BERNAMA

ACI Airport Service Quality Awards 2009

ASQ Top Performers 2009

BEST AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE
1) Incheon (ICN)
2) Singapore (SIN)
3) Hong Kong (HKG)
4) Beijing (PEK)
5) Hyderabad (HYD)

Best improvement award by region
Africa: Cairo (CAI) Asia Pacific: New Delhi (DEL)
Europe: Ponta Delgada (PDL) Latin America-Caribbean: Cancun (CUN)
Middle East : Abu Dhabi (AUH) North America : Cleveland (CLE)

BEST AIRPORT BY REGION

Africa
1) George (GRJ) 2) Johannesburg (JNB) 3) Cairo (CAI)
4) Port Elizabeth (PLZ) 5) Durban (DUR)

Asia-Pacific
1) Incheon (ICN) 2) Singapore (SIN) 3) Hong Kong (HKG)
4) Beijing (PEK) 5) Hyderabad (HYD)

Europe
1) Keflavik (KEF) 2) Zurich (ZRH) 3) Porto (OPO)
4) Malta (MLA) 5) Southampton (SOU)

Latin America & Caribbean
1) Cancun (CUN) 2) Guayaquil (GYE) 3) Barbados(BGI)
4) Mexico City (MEX) 5) Montego Bay (MBJ)

Middle East
1) Tel Aviv (TLV) 2) Dubai (DXB) 3) Abu Dhabi (AUH)
4) Doha (DOH) 5) Muscat (MCT)

North America
1) Austin (AUS) 2) Halifax (YHZ) 3) Ottawa (YOW)
4) Jacksonville (JAX) 5) Portland (PWM)

BEST AIRPORT BY SIZE OF AIRPORT

fewer than 5 million passengers
1) Halifax (YHZ) 2) Ottawa (YOW) 3) Portland (PWM)
4) Guayaquil (GYE) 5) Jackson (JAN)

5 - 15 million passengers
1) Hyderabad (HYD) 2) Austin (AUS) 3) Cancun (CUN)
4) Nagoya (NGO) 5) Jacksonville (JAX)

15 - 25 million passengers
1) Baltimore/Washington (BWI) 2) Taipei (TPE) 3) Shenzhen (SZX)
4) New Delhi ( DEL ) 5) Salt Lake City (SLC)

25 – 40 million passengers
1) Incheon (ICN) 2) Singapore (SIN) 3) Tokyo Narita (NRT)
4) Kuala Lumpur (KUL) 5) Shanghai Pudong (PVG)

over 40 million passengers
1) Hong Kong (HKG) 2) Beijing (PEK) 3) Denver (DEN)
4) Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) 5) Houston George Bush (IAH)

Majlis Rumah Terbuka Malaysia - Tahun Baru Cina 2010

Tarikh: 20 Februari 2010 (Sabtu)

Tempat: Jalan Chan Ah Choo, Pandamaran, Klang, Selangor

Aturcara Majlis:

6.30 ptg ~ 7.30 mlm - Persembahan Artis

8.00 mlm ~ 10.00 mlm - Program Bual Mesra YAB PM Bersama Rakyat

10.10 mlm ~ 11.00 mlm - Persembahan Artis

Record 32 Malaysian Exhibitors For AIME in Melbourne

February 16, 2010 15:03 PM

MELBOURNE, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- A record 32 exhibitors from Malaysia will take part in the 18th Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME) here on March 2 and 3.

They will be among more than 850 exhibitors from 50 countries who will showcase the best in destinations, products and services.

"Malaysia is sending a very strong group this year because of the importance of AIME," said Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Tourism Malaysia's new Melbourne director.

"AIME is going from strength to strength, and to tap into its vast potential, Tourism Malaysia has established MyCEB - Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau - with Zulkefli Sharif as its chief operations officer," Hafiz said.

AIME 2009 broke records with exhibitor numbers climbing to 854, a 3.8 per cent increase on the previous year, and visitor numbers grew by 15 per cent to 3,114 people attending the two-day event at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

There also was an impressive 467 hosted buyers who turned up last year to establish business contacts.

Hafiz said conventions would be a top priority this year because of the strong Aussie dollar.

The Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak and Melaka convention centres, led by Angeline Lue, Mohd Ariff Shah Abdullah Sani and Chew Chang Guan, respectively, are sending strong teams to AIME, offering to host international groups and organisations.

Hafiz said incentives would also play a big part in wooing convention and seminar delegates to Malaysia.

"Malaysia has first-class facilities and our hotels, tour operators and tourist attractions will be big plus for us," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Perbanyakkan promosi Langkawi

Dr. MAHATHIR Mohamad cuba mengendalikan My Ferry 2 sambil diperhatikan Ku Azhar Ku Razak (dua, kanan) di Jeti Kuah, Langkawi, semalam. - BERNAMA

LANGKAWI 14 Feb. - Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad meminta pihak yang berkenaan memperbanyakkan promosi mengenai Langkawi untuk meningkatkan kehadiran pelancong ke pulau bebas cukai itu.

Beliau berkata, iklan mempromosikan Langkawi masih berkurangan dan yakin jika tarikan di pulau legenda itu diberikan promosi sewajarnya, jumlah pelancong pasti lebih ramai lagi.

"Potensi Langkawi untuk dijadikan destinasi pelancongan kepada Malaysia dibuat sejak saya menjadi Perdana Menteri selepas melihat keindahannya semasa bertugas di Langkawi," katanya pada persidangan media selepas melancarkan perkhidmatan feri penumpang My Ferry 2 di Jeti Kuah di sini hari ini. Turut hadir Pengarah Urusan JMV Ferry Services Sdn. Bhd., Ku Azhar Ku Razak.

Feri tiga tingkat milik JMC Ferry Services Sdn. Bhd. berharga RM7 juta itu boleh membawa 430 penumpang pada satu-satu masa dan merupakan feri terbesar beroperasi di Langkawi.

Mengenai perangkaan Kementerian Pelancongan bahawa kemasukan pelancong ke Langkawi menurun sejak tiga tahun kebelakangan ini, Dr. Mahathir berkata, perkara itu adalah bersifat sementara.

"Kita perlu tahu keperluan pelancong dan pengusaha-pengusaha di Langkawi harus bersiap sedia untuk memenuhi kehendak pengunjung," katanya.

Beliau juga menasihatkan peniaga di Langkawi supaya tidak terlalu mengejar keuntungan lebih dengan menaikkan harga barangan sewenang-wenangnya kerana ia boleh menyebabkan pelancong tidak akan datang kembali.

Selain itu, beliau gembira kerana sudah ramai pelancong negara Arab berkunjung ke Langkawi dan ramai pengusaha setempat membuka restoran Arab untuk keperluan pelawat negara Asia Barat. - Bernama

Dr M Calls For Promotions To Be Stepped Up For Langkawi

February 14, 2010 18:26 PM

LANGKAWI, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants promotions to be stepped up to attract more tourists to Langkawi.

He said not enough was being done to promote the tourist destination and was confident tourists would come back to the tax-free island in droves if the matter of promotion was given added impetus.

He told this to reporters after launching the "My Ferry 2" ferry service at the Kuah Jetty here Sunday.

The RM7-million ferry operated by JMC Ferry Services Sdn Bhd can accomodate 430 passengers and is the biggest three-storey ferry operating between Langkawi and the mainland.

Dr Mahathir, who was responsible for transforming Langkawi from a backwater island to a major tourist destination, also said many Westerners especially those who had retired were attracted to Langkawi as the lower costs on the island made it ideal for a second home.

He was also happy to note that more Middle-Easterners were flocking to the island and food outlets catering for Arab tourists were mushrooming.

-- BERNAMA

Pahang Offers 10 Tourism Icons To Lure 10 Million Tourists This Year

February 14, 2010 12:16 PM

KUANTAN, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Pahang has set a target of attracting 10 million tourist arrivals this year by offering 10 packages of its best tourism icons.

The tourism icons are Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands, Fraser's Hill, Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, Kuala Lipis (historical and heritage town), National Park, Tioman Island, Rompin (Billfish - Sports Fishing), Pekan (Royal City) and Cherating (Surfing Paradise).

Pahang Tourism, Arts, Heritage, Family Development and Women Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Shafik Fauzan Sharif said the target was equal to the number of arrivals last year.

"The state government has requested an allocation of RM166.5 million under the 10th Malaysia Plan to implement 28 tourism-related projects in Pahang," he told Bernama.

Based on last year's statistics, he said 70 per cent or seven million tourists to Pahang visited Genting Highlands.

Hence, he said the management of Genting Highlands had agreed to promote other tourist destinations in Pahang in their advertisement and promotional brochures.

-- BERNAMA

LOTUS F1 RACING TEAM

Dreams do come true. Just ask Air Asia CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes. Five months ago, he was given the task of forming the Malaysian Lotus F1 Racing team. Not one to shirk from responsibilities, Fernandes assumed the post of team principal and started from scratch.

SIC, PETRONAS KICK OFF F1 PROMOTION IN KLCC

29 JANUARY 2010, BY SEPANG INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT

As the world anxiously waits in excitement for the Formula 1 Championship season, promoters of the 2010 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix kicked of their promotion campaign in Kuala Lumpur amidst strong confidence of a large turnout event on 2 to 4 April in Sepang.

In a joint promotion at the PETRONAS Philharmonic Hall Foyer within the capital’s leading shopping complex Suria KLCC, event organizer and promoter Sepang International Circuit (SIC) and title sponsor PETRONAS also launched the ‘I Love F1’ campaign to generate greater interest and increasing the awareness among Malaysians for the sports and in support of the 1Malaysia campaign in promoting multi-racial harmony and understanding among the people through F1.

“This should be the most exciting season in years in Formula 1 especially from the Malaysian perspective and it is our wish to see everyone in the ‘I Love F1’ t-shirt filling the circuit on race day,” says Razlan Razali, who is SIC Chief Executive Officer and event director for the 2010 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix.

With PETRONAS also being title sponsor of the new Mercedes GP-PETRONAS F1 Team, which effectively is the defending champion Brawn GP, will be the team the world will watch as it sensationally brings back seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher to the racing grid.

With Schumacher’s slick driving skills and the engineering brilliance of Ross Brawn, its supporters are brimming with confidence that the Mercedes GP-PETRONAS will be among the top contenders for the world championship this season.

All the competing teams would go into testing in February as they start preparation for a 19-round championship, which will open in Sakhir at the Bahrain Grand Prix from March 12 to 14. Malaysia will host Round 3 of the world championship at Sepang Circuit from April 2 to 4.

The 2010 race in Sepang will mark the 12th edition of the Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix, which can be traced back to October 1999 which saw Schumacher making a comeback in Sepang after a long lay-off following an accident at the British Grand Prix earlier in July where he broke his right leg.

Also known as the 1Malaysia Racing Team, the Lotus F1 Racing Team is bringing back the highly successful brand back into the F1 world with the backing of top Malaysian corporate companies that included Proton as the owner of Lotus Group, Naza Group and Air Asia.

Most prominent would be the no refueling rule, which will demand bigger fuel tanks and deeper intelligence in preserving fuel. Pitstops, however, remained necessary as teams would be required to use both sets of tires of different compounds.

The 2010 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix itself would have a change with the 12th edition starting at 4pm instead of 5pm as it had last year. Prior to 2009, the Malaysian race had traditionally started at 3pm; but had been delayed to boost TV viewing in the European sector.

“As to what we organized last year, we will be bringing again the drivers’ autograph session at the track. We will also have entertainment and activities at the Mall Area throughout the event and a big after-race concert. … It will be big this year” said Razlan.

With all these supporting elements, Razlan has expressed confidence that the 2010 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix would draw a capacity crowd and even breaking the 2008 Race Day attendance of over 120,000 trackside spectators.

“Our tickets are priced as low as RM100 and as we did in previous years, we are offering discounts for students and special packages for groups,” said Razlan, adding that purchases of selected tickets between now and January 31 would entitle the buyer a 50 percent discount on a second ticket.

Show your passion for F1 Malaysia and get your ‘I Love F1’ t-shirt and the 2010 PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix tickets at all participating outlets.

Info:

PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX 2010

SEPANG CIRCUIT

02-03-04 APRIL 2010

http://www.malaysiangp.com.my/

Tourism Ministry Aims To Make Tourists Stay Longer, Spend More

February 05, 2010 00:09 AM
SHAH ALAM, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Thursday night her ministry aimed to make tourists stay longer and spend more when they visit Malaysia so as to generate more revenue for the country.For this year, she said the ministry targeted 24 million tourist arrival compared to the 23.5 million tourist who came to last year.She said the ministry hoped earnings from tourism for this year would increase to RM53 billion from RM52 billion in 2009.Dr Ng said this after launching I-Bhd's Oriental Digital Lights Celebrations at the company's integrated technology township, I -City, which spans over 29 hectares in Section 7 here.At present, she said, foreign tourists stay on average 6.4 days and that the ministry aimed to raise this figure to average eight days.-- BERNAMA

Penerbangan Ulung Mahan Air Dari Iran

Pada 28 Januari 2010 lalu, Mahan Air dari Iran telah mengadakan penerbangan ulung mereka dari bandar Shiraz, Iran ke Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Penerbangan Mahan Air yang menggunakan pesawat Airbus A310 dengan kapasiti 204 penumpang telah mengambil masa 8 jam untuk tiba di KLIA.

Untuk permulaan, Mahan Air mengadakan penerbangan sekali seminggu sebelum menambah kepada 2 kali seminggu. Dengan adanya penerbangan Mahan Air, dijangka ketibaan pelancong Iran akan bertambah pada tahun ini. Megikut statistik, seramai 101,664 pelancong Iran telah melawat Malaysia pada tahun 2009.

Tourism Ministry To Relocate Some Overseas Office To Meet Demand

Source: Bernama.com

February 03, 2010 22:41 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- The Tourism Ministry will relocate some of its overseas offices and officers to accommodate current demand, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Wednesday.

"This year, we are reviewing to relocate some of the tourism officers and offices overseas. We are looking at the changing trend, the number of tourists' growth," she told reporters after attending the ministry's monthly gathering at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (Matic), here.

She said that among others, the ministry was looking at relocating its tourism office in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Istanbul, Turkey.

"This is because Malaysia Airlines has a direct flight between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul, and the city has also become a tourism hub for Europe," she said.

Dr Ng said this was in line with the ministry's efforts to draw more tourists from Europe to Malaysia.

She also said that in view of the Chinese New Year on Feb 14 and 15, Malaysia would receive 44 charter flights from North Asia and East Asia.

"These flights are expected to bring 3,760 tourists from South Korea, 3,590 from China and 2,527 from Taiwan. Thirty of the flights will be to Kota Kinabalu and the rest to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kuantan, Johor, Penang and Langkawi.

"We are developing new direct destinations. We hope these charter flights will eventually be converted to regular flights," she said.

-- BERNAMA