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