Malaysia's Tourism Minister Leads Sales Mission To Iran

The Honourable Dato` Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism, Malaysia, will lead a delegation to Iran from 7 to 9 May to strengthen Malaysia’s presence in the market. This three-day post Arabian Travel Market 2011 Sales Mission will showcase a business session and a dinner at the Homa Hotel, in Tehran, Iran. The mission will then be led by Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin, Tourism Malaysia’s Acting Director General, to Isfahan and Shiraz from 9 to 12 May 2011.  

The sales mission serves as a platform for the travel trade members from Iran and Malaysia to interact and identify mutually beneficial areas for cooperation with the objective of promoting Malaysia as a preferred holiday and business tourism destination to the Iranian travellers. Among the niche products to be introduced are education tourism, medical & health tourism and Malaysia My Second Home.

Other members from the Malaysian delegation include 30 representatives from eleven hotels, seven travel and tour operators and three state governments. A media conference on the tourism development in Malaysia will be held on 9 May 2011 at the Homa Hotel, Tehran, Mirror Hall at 1900hrs. Last year 116,252 tourists from Iran visited Malaysia, an increase of 14.3% over 2009. The target for 2011 is 120,000.

 BACKGROUNDER

1.    Malaysia recorded 24.5 million tourists last year with a 3.9 per cent growth compared to the previous year (2009). 

2.    Last year, the West Asian market registered 320,373 tourists with a growth of 12.5 percent compared to 2009.  From this, 116,252 tourists were from Iran (14.3 percent  increase).

3.    The promotion  in West Asia focuses  on travel packages coupled with the high standard of services and products. Key segments promoted include leisure holidays such as beaches and islands, shopping, dining, eco-tourism and MICE.  The special interest products are education tourism, medical and health tourism, honeymoon, spa and Malaysia My Second Home. 

4.    In the context of medical and health tourism, Malaysia is among the popular destinations for health tourists from West Asia.  It is fast emerging as a value-for-money destination with world-class health and state-of-the-art medical facilities as Malaysia has over 200 international standard hospital and clinics. 

  5.    In addition, the favourable exchange rate has contributed to the growth in education tourism, thus making Malaysia a centre of research and educational excellence. Twinning programs with foreign universities have made it affordable for students from West Asia to pursue their tertiary education in Malaysia.

  6.    Malaysia received Lonely Planet’s awards for World's Top Ten Countries 2010, Best Value Destinations 2010 and Top Spots for Medical Adventures.

-Tourism Malaysia.