Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Travel Fair To Promote Domestic Tourism

photo: MOTAC facebook

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 5 (Bernama) -- A total of 60 players in the tourism industry, among them travel agencies, hotels and tourism product entrepreneurs, will promote domestic tourism at the Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Travel Fair themed 'Dekat Je' (It's Close By) in Johor this month.

Tourism and Culture Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Ong Hong Peng said the inaugural fair organised by Tourism Malaysia would be held at KSL City, Johor Baharu, for three days from Feb 26.

"We are targeting sales worth RM1 million by offering various domestic products and tour packages to the anticipated 15,000 visitors," he told reporters after the pre-launch of the fair here today.

He said he hoped that the fair would help increase the number of domestic tourist arrivals in view of the high foreign exchange rate as well as help Malaysians plan their holidays.

"This year, we are targeting 66.8 million domestic tourist arrivals with spending power of RM45.7 billion," he said, adding that in 2014 the number of domestic tourist arrivals was 60.7 million with spending power of RM41.4 billion.

Ong said that in 2014, five states were the main focus of domestic tourists, namely Perak, Johor, Pahang, Kedah and Selangor.

He said the campaign to promote domestic travel would also help boost the local economy as a result of the fall in the value of the ringgit, as well as offset the slowdown in tourist arrivals from certain markets, especially Singapore.

"For this year, Tourism Malaysia will also intensify its tourism campaign in countries that have large markets, including China, India and the Middle Eastern countries," he said.
-bernama.