Tourism Malaysia Targets 14 Mln Tourist Arrivals From Singapore This Year

SINGAPORE, Feb 3 (Bernama) -- With the new tourism campaign, Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015 (MyFest 2015), Tourism Malaysia targets 14 million tourist arrivals from Singapore this year, says Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board chairman Tan Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen.

"Singapore is our anchor land, very important that we consistently give good products to Singaporeans and also addressed all the concern.

"Two years ago, we have 13.5 million visitors from Singapore travelling into Malaysia. This is really a good time that we must really anchor on, especially with the strong Singapore dollar," she told Bernama after a luncheon with travel trade operators here.

Ng is here to network and thank the travel trade industry players for the continuous support to the Malaysian tourism sector.

Although most Singaporeans drove to Malaysia, Ng said there was still room for the travel trade operators as there are also Singaporeans who preferred travelling in groups. She said what the travel trade operators needed to do was introduce Singaporeans to new tourism products, including new hotels to stay.

Themed 'Endless Celebrations', the year-long MyFest 2015 offers more than 200 events related to cultural festivals, arts and music showcases, food promotions, shopping and sports.

Among others the event include KL Light Festival in January, Mah-Meri Festival and Formula One Festival, both in March, the Penang World Music Festival in April, Magic of the Night in May, the Rainforest World Music Festival in August, Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix in October, and Malaysia Year-End Sale in November and December.

Even though Malaysia had undergone quite a bad year in 2014 following incidents of missing and crashed planes, Dr Ng said last year saw an increase in tourist arrivals to Malaysia. "Generally of course, the market most affected was China, but the rest of the markets was fine," she said.

Asked on the implementation of the Goods and Sales Tax (GST) this April, she said its implementation would not affect Malaysia too much. "This is because it will not affect the pricing so much and thus it will not give a negative impact on tourism. "This year we are confident that it will be a better year," she added.
-bernama.