Siti Nurhaliza Among Nine Personalities Appointed As Malaysia's Tourism Advisors

photo: Clement Lee facebook

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 (Bernama) -- Iconic singer Datuk Siti Nurhaliza Taruddin has been appointed as Malaysia's tourism advisor to boost tourist arrivals in the country via her performances abroad.

Siti Nurhaliza is among nine personalities who have been appointed to the post.

"Being an artiste all this while, I have used every opportunity possible to promote my country when I performed abroad.

"So this time, under the Tourism and Culture Ministry, my task will be easier and I can widely promote the beauty and special things about Malaysia," she told Bernama after receiving the certificate of appointment at Carcosa Seri Negara, here, today.

The certificates were presented to the recipients by Tourism and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Other than live performances, Siti Nurhaliza intends to promote to the global community, the breathtaking green scenery of Malaysia via her Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts while travelling to interesting places.

Another celebrity, world-renowned shoe designer, Prof Datuk Dr Jimmy Choo said as he always travelled to different parts of the world, he would use the opportunity to talk about Malaysia and promote it to the foreigners and encourage them to visit Malaysia.

"Because I am 'Jimmy Choo', they will interview me, and I don't only talk about shoes but also about my country, its tourism attractions and culture," he said.

The other tourism advisors are businessman Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Syed Nasir, Datuk Jeffery Sandragesan, famous 80's singer Datuk Sheikh Abdullah Ahmad (Datuk Shake), celebrity chef Datuk Chef Ismail Ahmad, diving ambassador and conservationist Clement Lee, Korean successful businessman and tourism industry expert Datuk Lee Jin Bok, and singer-songwriter Yunalis Mat Zara'ai (Yuna).

Earlier in his speech, Nazri said the Tourism Advisor Programme was an initiative by his ministry through Tourism Malaysia to engage prominent, well-established and influential Malaysians in various fields, either living abroad or in Malaysia, to promote the country among their circle of friends, fans and network of contacts.

"You can spend millions in advertising and promotions for your business but negative word-of-mouth will eventually bring you down. This is one of the reasons we introduced the Tourism Ambassador Programme back in 2009. Last year, we rebranded it as the Tourism Advisory Programme."

He said the programme was also in line with the government's objective to drive the tourism industry towards achieving the country's target of 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in receipts by 2020, as outlined in the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP).

Since its inception in 2009, 14 luminaries, each notable in his or her own sphere of influence, have been appointed as tourism advisors.
-bernama.