Domestic tourism to benefit from ailing ringgit

The ringgit depreciation may result in stronger demand for domestic travel, according to officials from Tourism Malaysia and inbound players in the country.

This year, Tourism Malaysia is targeting an increase of 5.7 per cent in domestic tourism as compared with 2014.

Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof, director, domestic marketing division of Tourism Malaysia, said: “The weak ringgit will affect people’s propensity to travel and we expect to see a shift from outbound to traveling within the country.

“Based on findings from MATTA Fair in March, the top five domestic destinations are Kedah (including Langkawi), Pahang, Johor, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.”

To further grow domestic travel, the upcoming MATTA Fair from September 4-6 will see a total of 110 tourism trade players participate under the umbrella of Tourism Malaysia.

State travel organisations from Sabah, Langkawi, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Terengganu, Kedah, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Pahang and Putrajaya will also participate in the fair.

The ringgit started falling in late 2014 and had dropped to 3.99 to the US dollar today from 3.16 a year ago.

-TTG Asia.