Malaysian Culture Week 2013 In London

LONDON, 23 September 2013 - London Malaysian Culture Week program 2013 with the theme “Faces of 1Malaysia” was officiated by the Hon. Dato Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia on 21 September 2013, at 3 pm (London time) at the South Bank, London.

Among the invitees at this 5-day event (19-23 Sept) included the Mayor Councilor Abdul Mohamed (Mayor of London Southwalk), H.E. Dato ' Seri Zakaria Sulong (Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom) and Their Excellences Malaysian ambassador to Dubai and ambassadors from Singapore, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand. 

Malaysian Culture Week program was first held in London in 2006 and due to overwhelming response from the public, similar programs were subsequently held in 2007, 2008 and 2012. This program aims to promote Malaysian culture, heritage and diversity in the Malaysian way of life that reflects the diversity of life united (unity in diversity).

It also highlights the uniqueness and diversity of culture; they include cultural performances and traditional music, food, heritage, crafts, painting and a fashion show to introduce the local batik and songket. In addition there are various demonstrations such as craft demonstrations, teh tarik, roti canai and top-spinning performances. The program also provides an avenue of exposure to local craft entrepreneurs through exhibition and sale of craft products such as; batik, sculpture, weaving, ceramics, metal, jungle heritage, food restaurant operators, as well as art enthusiasts, internationally.

As far as the response is concerned, the Ministry targets 330,000 visitors this year, compared to 320,719 visitors last year. Incidentally, in just three days, the program registered 247,000 visitors and this figure exceeded the initial set target. Just on the launch day alone, a total of 120,540 visitors were recorded.

“This program is also serves as a good platform to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2014,” said Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz.

He added that in 2012, Malaysia received 25.03 million tourists with tourism revenues amounted to RM60.6 billion. Of the total, 1,130,303 tourists form Europe, 402,207 tourists were from the United Kingdom. 

In this regard, the Ministry has taken strategic steps to promote and publicize this program widely through radio announcements, special articles in local newspapers, distributing flyers in public places around the location of the ceremony in London.

After officiating the Malaysia Culture Week 2013 at 12 noon on 20 September at the Landmark Hotel London, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia also launched the Visit Malaysia 2014 Tour Packages for the UK market. 

This Package aims to offer a variety of tour packages to all market segments travelers in the UK. It features four main products, they are: 
a)    Coastal and island (islands and beaches
b)    Travel and Nature (nature and adventures )
c)    Culture and heritage (cultural and heritages )
d)    Tourism Luxury and Spa (luxury, wellness and spa).

For the year 2013, the Ministry is targeting specific tourist arrivals from the UK's target of 450,000 people and a total of 475,000 tourists for the year 2014 in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

The Ministry plans to expand the tourism market by exploring new markets such as in major cities in South America ( Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires ), Europe ( Paris , Edinburgh and Frankfurt ) , Middle East ( Dubai ) , Oceania ( Sydney and Auckland ) and East Asia ( Shanghai and Seoul ). 

The Government will continue participation to festivals such world-class Expo Yeoshu (Republic of Korea), Expo Shanghai (People's Republic of China) and the Expo Zaragoza (Spain) to expose participants from Malaysia and also promote Malaysia in the international arena.
-Tourism Malaysia.