Malaysia, A Top Destination For Uzbeks

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- More tourists from Uzbekistan have placed Malaysia as one of their favourite destinations due to the tourist-friendly facilities available and unique cuisine, said Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) director-general Zulkifly Md Said.

He said that Uzbeks also find Malaysia a Muslim-friendly destination, which practiced moderation, and this has provided a big advantage to Malaysia as a majority of the people in Uzbekistan are Muslims.

"They feel safe, secure and they can freely enjoy their stay and travel throughout the country," Zulkifly told Bernama at the one-day Uzbekistan tourism road show held here, recently.

The road show, organised by the Uzbekistan embassy here, was aimed at creating awareness among Malaysians about Uzbekistan and participated by travel agents from Uzbekistan who offered flights and accommodation packages, while at the same time seeking cooperation from local travel agents.

Speaking during the road show, Zulkifly said that ITC, an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, welcomed any effort to work hand-in-hand with the Uzbek government in promoting tourism between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan's Ambassador to Malaysia, Shukor Sabitov, said that the strong ties between the two countries was reflected by the increasing number of Uzbeks visiting Malaysia and Malaysians visiting Uzbekistan, pointing out that more than 2,000 Malaysians visited Uzbekistan last year, while about 11,000 Uzbeks visited Malaysia.

"This shows that despite the travel industry in our country being rather young, it has now become one of the most rapidly growing businesses, supported by the good bilateral relations and the 22 years of diplomatic relations with Malaysia," he told Bernama.

He said that the road show was a good platform to introduce Uzbekistan as a potential tourism destination as it is home to more than 4,000 historical-architectural monument and sites, with many having been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list and under the protection of the world community.

Sabitov also noted that in 2013, Uzbekistan's inbound tourism grew by 16 per cent and more than two million international tourists visited the country.

Meanwhile, newly appointed general manager of Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, Stephan Sieberg, said that Malaysia's diverse tourist attractions such as the beaches, islands and vibrant cities, was a plus factor for the country.

"It is a good thing that Malaysia has a lot of diversity within the country, ranging from the beaches, islands and vibrant cities," he said, when asked to comment on the Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014 campaign. "There is a great variety in this VMY. I am fully convinced that the VMY campaign will drive a lot of attention," he said at an afternoon tea session with reporters recently.

He said that one other plus point for Malaysia was its "healthy growth" over the last few years, pointing out that the economic growth projection of between 5.0 to 5.5 per cent this year showed that Malaysia has a "healthy economy."

However, he also feels that in order to attract more tourists to Malaysia during the campaign, there should be common efforts in order to create demand and expectation. He said that all the cities in Malaysia and not only Kuala Lumpur should participated is such efforts to ensure the success of the campaign.

To create awareness on what Malaysia can offer to tourists, a good amount of homework and research should also be done on "what you want to present to the world," he said.
-bernama.