Malaysia Targets 36 Million Tourist Arrivals By 2020

PUTRAJAYA, July 18 (Bernama) -- The government targets 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020 as there has been a steady increase in the numbers of tourists visting Malaysia each year, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen. She said 36 million tourist arrivals would enable the government to get a revenue of RM3 billion a week. "Malaysia is becoming more and popular as a tourist destination, in fact were were in ninth place as the most visited country last year," she told a press conference after opening the 1Malaysia Clean and Beautiful campaign at the FLORIA 2010 flower festival, here Sunday.

Dr Ng said, from January till May this year, tourist arrivals also increased to 9.6 million persons as compared to 9.2 million for the same period last year. "In Asean, Malaysia has the highest tourist arrivals followed by Singapore," she said. On the campaign, Ng said each and every Malaysian must do his or her part towards ensuring cleanliness of their surroundings. She said the tourism industry was a very competitive one and that clean surroundings gave the country and edge over its competitors.