Tourism Malaysia Concludes Roadshow To Kuwait, Qatar

DUBAI, May 13 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia concluded its roadshow to Kuwait and Qatar on Tuesday, whetting the appetite of the Arabs with tourism products ranging from ecotourism, shopping, food and urban life to Ramadan and honeymoon packages. It began in Kuwait City on May 8 and closed with a bang at the Four Seasons Doha hotel with the Malaysia Gala Dinner featuring a mesmerising cultural show courtesy of Istana Budaya dancers. According to Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general for planning Azizan Noordin, there was growing interest in Malaysia's ecotourism as well as medical tourism among the Arabs. "Interest in ecotourism is growing as we're now slowly getting the second and third generation of the people who were visiting Malaysia since we started tourism promotions in this region back in the mid-1990s," he said in Doha recently.

Malaysia is also rolling out the red carpet to Arab visitors during the Ramadan fasting month. Azizan said feedback from tour operators and hoteliers in both Kuwait City and Doha indicated that Malaysia stood a good chance of getting more arrivals from this region during that period. "We have all the ingredients; we're a Muslim country, the daylight hours (for fasting) are almost the same throughout Ramadan and many flights are going to Malaysia," he explained. Azizan said Malaysian hoteliers were talking about bringing in chefs from the Middle East for food promotions. "In fact, we already have quite a number of Arab restaurants in places like Kuala Lumpur, Penang and even Langkawi," he said. Shops and eateries in certain areas were likely to stay open later than usual to cater to Arab visitors during Ramadan, added Azizan. The Tourism Malaysia official also said that honeymooners from the Middle East were another market segment that the Malaysian hospitality sector would be focusing on. "Actually, this is not something new to us as we've been getting honeymooners from countries like Korea and Japan. So our hoteliers can use that experience to cater to newly-weds from Arab countries," he said.

Accompanied by four Istana Budaya performers who looked resplendent in traditional Malay costumes, Azizan went on a walkabout at the Villaggio shopping mall in Doha, Tuesday. The dancers generated quite a bit of attention as shoppers took the opportunity to snap photographs with them, asking where they were from. Azizan also called on several tour operators in the Qatari capital, with the Istana Budaya dancers helping to distribute promotional items on Malaysia. The roadshow to the two Gulf nations was led by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen. It came on the heels of the Arabian Travel Market 2010 in Dubai, also headed by the minister. Malaysia aims to attract 300,000 visitors from the Middle East in 2010.