Tourism Malaysia Leads Delegation To Participate In China International Tourism Industry Expo 2019 (CITIE 2019)

PUTRAJAYA, 30 AUGUST 2019: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi has led a delegation comprising of 29 Malaysian organisations to participate in the China International Tourism Industry Expo 2019 (CITIE 2019) in Guangzhou, China from today till September 1, 2019. 

During the three-day event, he was accompanied by the Tourism Malaysia Director General, Datuk Musa Hj. Yusof, Tourism Malaysia Chairman Datuk Ahmad Shah Hussein Tambakau and also Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry Deputy Secretary General Dato' Haslina binti Abdul Hamid.

The participation in CITIE 2019 is in line with Tourism Malaysia’s continuous efforts to publicise the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) campaign and Malaysia-China Year of Culture and Tourism 2020 to the travel and tourism industry players in China particularly in southern province of the nation. 

CITIE is China's largest comprehensive international tourism exhibition that will see the participation of more than 3,000 exhibitors from 60 countries with 500,000 visitors. 

Since its inception in 2005, the key objectives of CITIE is to offer a professional platform for international tourism industry players to network, share information as well as develop their business, with focus on both business to business (B2B) and business to consumers (B2C) segment, networking receptions and tourism product presentations.

As Malaysia is the Guest Country of Honour for CITIE 2019, Datuk Mohamaddin delivered his keynote address during the grand opening of the event and officiated the Malaysia Pavilion at the exhibition hall today. He is also scheduled to meet several major travel and tourism industry players in Guangzhou.

Visitors to the Malaysia Pavilion will be entertained by traditional dancing performances by Bridged Seni Melaka, a cultural dance group from Malaysia and witness “teh tarik” demonstration.

The Malaysian delegation comprises a good mix of hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, airline, tourism associations and representatives from tourism authorities as well as state tourism boards. 

The VM2020 campaign has set the target to attract 30 million international tourist arrivals and RM100 billion in tourist receipts. Through its participation in CITIE, Tourism Malaysia seeks to attract more Chinese tourists to Malaysia to achieve its tourism target for 2019. Tourism revenue generated from Chinese tourists in 2018 was RM12.3 billion (estimate of RMB19 billion), accounting for 14% of total tourism revenue for Malaysia. 

For the first half of 2019, tourist arrivals from China to Malaysia registered a total of 1.55 million tourists compared with 1.46 million tourists for the same period of 2018, an increase of 6.4%. Last year, Malaysia welcomed 2.94 million Chinese tourists in the country.

-Tourism Malaysia.

Roaring celebration of Johor tourism

(From left) Tourism Johor director Zihan Ismail, Liow, Tan and MATTA chief executive officer Phua Tai Neng with Joh the mascot, after the Visit Johor 2020 press conference.

JOHOR has been announced as “Malaysia’s Favourite Destination” by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) for the upcoming MATTA Fair.

Johor was presented as Malaysia’s Favourite Destination in the March 2016 MATTA Fair.

This was made even more significant by the fact that next year will be Visit Johor Year 2020.

This MATTA Fair, Tourism Johor will be introducing the Visit Johor Year 2020 logo along with its mascot, Joh, which is based on the Harimau Malaya and signifies Johoreans’ bravery and spirit of freedom.

Johor tourism, women, family and community development chairman Liow Cai Tung said, “The involvement of Tourism Johor is very meaningful. This time, we are coming in as the Johor Pavilion, where its concept based on the Bangunan Dato’ Jaffar Muhamad in Kota Iskandar.

“We aim to increase arrivals in Johor to 8.4 million travellers staying for at least one night, ” he said.

The Johor Pavilion will have 16 booths in Hall 5 featuring visuals depicting the state’s attractions.

Liow added, “We have 10 districts in Johor and each has its own uniqueness.”

Besides featuring the 10 districts, visitors can also look forward to a variety of 20 destinations and 20 events at the Johor Pavilion.

Twenty-two product owners from the state taking part in the fair will include eco- tourism operators, hotels and theme parks.

One of them is the Johor National Park.

“I hope more domestic tourists will visit the national park and I welcome more Malaysians to visit Johor, ” Liow said.

Yayasan Warisan Johor will also be showcasing Johor’s culture and traditions.

Festivals in each district will be promoted to highlight their uniqueness in food, culture and destinations.

Johor has also been ranked among the top two of the “Most Visited States” in the country by Tourism Malaysia with a record of 7.8 million arrivals in 2018.

MATTA Fair’s collaboration with Tourism Johor is slated to increase the state’s brand visibility and capture holidaymakers’ interest at the fair.

Through promotions at the fair, visitor arrivals to Johor are poised to reach its target of 8.4 million in 2020.

MATTA president, Datuk Tan Kok Liang said, “Based on the promotions I have seen, I am pleased to see places beyond the usual favourites and not so well-known cultural places being promoted.”

MATTA and Tourism Johor have been proactive in attracting more visitors to the state.

Efforts have included a collaboration with the MATTA Johor Chapter in putting together travel and tour packages based on tourism segments to meet the expectations of domestic and foreign tourists for sustainable and consistent domestic and inbound tourism growth.

MATTA Fair September 2019 will open from 10am to 9pm daily.

Admission is RM4 per person and free for children below 12.

For further details, go to Johor Tourism’s Facebook page.

-thestar online.

More business events means more business travellers to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- More business events held in Malaysia means more business travellers to the country, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Deputy Minister, Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.

He said events like Malaysia Business Events Week (MBEW) 2019 organised by the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) was in line with the ministry's aspiration of achieving 30 million tourist arrivals in 2020.

He said business travellers and international delegates coming here for seminars and conferences tended to stay longer as well, as they had more spending power compared with ordinary travellers.

The term 'bleisure' (a portmanteau of business and leisure) is used to describe this new type of business travel, as the travellers tend to continue with their stay after the events.

"They spend more time to experience the cities of Malaysia, they have more spending power on our local products...they are normally high-end tourists," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama after officiating at the event, here, today. Also present was MyCEB chief executive officer, Datuk Zulkefli Sharif.

Muhammad Bakhtiar said Malaysia had the ability to become a business events destination with advantages like having world-class facilities and services, a variety of accommodation, unique locations and a solid track record of hosting numerous significant business events.

MBEW is held annually and it is a strategic platform built for industry stakeholders to converge, communicate and debate on issues that impact the future growth and sustainability of the business events industry.

Meanwhile, Zulkefli said since MyCEB's inception until 2018, it had successfully secured more than 1,100 international events, generating some RM 8.5 billion in estimated economic impact to Malaysia.

"Last year alone, MyCEB and our industry partners managed to secure 152 future events comprising international conferences, incentive group programmes and trade exhibitions that will translate into an estimated economic impact of RM1.58 billion and the arrival of 102,211 international delegates.

“It is a business to be taken seriously as its contribution to the country is significant and it complements the knowledge and creative economy,” he said.

-bernama.

Tourism Malaysia And MICA Promotes VM2020 In China

PUTRAJAYA, 27 AUGUST 2019: Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association (MICA) are embarking on a tourism promotion roadshow in China to entice more Chinese tourists to the country. The effort is being made from 27 to 29 August 2019 and covers Chengdu and Lanzhou.

The Malaysian delegation is led by Tourism Malaysia Chairman, YBhg. Datuk Ahmad Shah Hussein Tambakau and MICA President, Dato’ Dr. Angie Ng, who are accompanied by 23 Malaysian organisations comprising of travel agents, tourism product owners, hoteliers and Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) agents. 

The objectives of the roadshow are as follows:

• Updating the current tourism developments in Malaysia and publicise Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) campaign.
• Demonstrating ongoing commitment to penetrate China market and to further promote Malaysia in second-tier cities like Chengdu and third-tier cities like Lanzhou. 
• Providing a platform for Malaysian tourism industry players to network and develop new business with Chengdu and Lanzhou counterparts as well as to strengthen existing networks.

The VM2020 campaign has set the target to attract 30 million international tourist arrivals. Hence, the roadshow is a good platform to promote VM2020 campaign in China. Moreover, it is an opportunity to attract a new record number of 3.48 million Chinese tourists to Malaysia by the end of 2020, while maintaining the country’s position as a destination of choice for holiday travel among Chinese tourists. 

For the first half of 2019, tourist arrivals from China to Malaysia registered a total of 1.55 million tourists compared with 1.46 million tourists for the same period of 2018, an increase of 6.4%. Last year, Malaysia welcomed 2.94 million Chinese tourists in the country.

Currently, there are daily flights offered by AirAsiaX and four weekly flights offered by Malindo Air connecting Kuala Lumpur and Chengdu as well as four weekly flights by AirAsiaX connecting Kuala Lumpur to Lanzhou. These direct flights will certainly enhance promotional efforts by the government and make Malaysia easier to reach from Chengdu and Lanzhou.

Malaysia’s diverse tourist attractions such as islands and beaches, shopping and theme parks, multiracial cultures, delicious local food, million-year-old rainforests, warm climate, and luxury experiences, offer Chinese tourists a pleasurable tropical holiday at highly reasonable prices at any time of the year.

-Tourism Malaysia.

Responsible tourism, Sarawak´s responsibility to make business tourism sustainable - Abang Johari

photo: PelanconganKini

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak government perceives `Responsible Tourism' as a responsibility for the state to make their tourism business sustainable, its Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said today.

Abang Johari said understanding the nature of Sarawak government tourism setting, product portfolios and fragile ecosystem, it was only logical to choose to pursue responsible tourism to set in the equilibrium, satisfying the visitors, local hosts and the State of Sarawak as a whole.

“Responsible Tourism is all about making tourism better places for people to live with and a better place for people to visit.

“It focuses on what people, businesses and governments do to maximise the positive economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism. It is all about identifying issues locally and addressing it transparently,” he said

Abang Johari said this in his opening speech at the welcoming dinner for delegates of the 2019 World Tourism Conference (WTC 2019) which was also attended by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi here today.

WTC 2019 which started on Aug 26 until Aug 27 is organised by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.

This 5th edition of WTC continues to look at further enhancing sustainability of the tourism business, widening its horizon, to look ‘beyond’ tourism – consolidating various sectors including health, education, transportation and entertainment into the spectrum.

Abang Johari said Sarawak government recognised together with the world that Responsible Tourism took a variety of forms and was characterised by travel and tourism which minimised negative economic, environmental and social impacts and generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities.

“Responsible Tourism is exciting. It is very experiential and caring to our local hosts and to our environment. With people as the heart of Responsible Tourism, we give back to ensure sustainability of the industry for the years to come.

“Our nature based and landscape tourism calls for respect for conservation and for the future generation. Our culture tourism calls for the creation of benefits for hosts and when our hosts are happy, our guests leave with fond memories,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abang Johari said Sarawak had targeted five million visitors’ arrival this year as compared to 4.4 million visitors that brought in RM7.95 billion in tourist receipts in 2018.

-bernama.

Dr M: Malaysia to embrace digital technology for tourism

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia wants to embrace the digital technology trend to transform the nation's tourism industry, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said the country is embarking on a comprehensive digitalisation journey to transform Malaysia's tourism industry towards smart tourism initiatives.

He added that the government believes that it will be able to provide the necessary tools for the tourism industry to be internationally connected, perform rigorous data analytics of tourism futures and shorten the supply chain if it embraces digitalisation.

Dr Mahathir then said that a new investment climate is pivotal for a conducive environment to enable technology-cantered tourism industry to charge forward.

Dr Mahathir said that Malaysia realises this and will designate strategic Special Tourism Investment Zones throughout the country under the new National Tourism Policy.

He added that specific incentives are being formulated to attract infrastructure and new technology-based investments in the tourism sector.

"Malaysia realises that technology advancement in tourism is about to break boundaries and open up infinite opportunities for growth globally," said Dr Mahathir.

He said that the World Economic Forum's Digital Transformation Initiatives showed that digitalisation in tourism is expected to contribute up to US$305bil of value through increased profitability by 2025.

Dr Mahathir added that with the arrival of tourists forecasted to reach 1.8 billion in 2030, Malaysia can foresee a wider base of services being offered beyond the conventional tourism-focused industry.

He said that this includes medical, filming, adventure sports, content development, religious-activities, gaming as well as green technology.

-thestar online.

Tourism Malaysia Leverages On Social Media For VM2020 Promotion

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 AUGUST 2019:A total of 25social media influencers and key opinion leaders from nine ASEAN countries are taking part in the Malaysia-ASEAN Tourism Influencers Key Opinion Leaders Programme(MAIKOL) from 26 August until 1 September 2019. The initiative is an effort to leverage on regional social media influencers and their fan-base to promote tourist destinations in Malaysia, especially as a build-up to the Visit Malaysia 2020 promotion campaign.

Organised for the first time, the programme is a mix of sightseeing, hands-on activities and self-explorationby the influencers to provide a well-rounded experience of Malaysia and showcase some of the destination’s hidden touristic gems. In line with the theme of this event, “Unforgettable Experience in Malaysia,” Malaysia’s unique experiences, high quality and value-for-money productsand services will be highlighted to showcase the many possible holiday ideas and activities in Malaysia.

Ybrs. Encik Zulkifly Md Said, Deputy Director General (Planning) Tourism Malaysia says, “We are excited to follow theparticipants’ adventures and experiences throughout the programme on their social media platforms. From the sharing and re-posting of theirentries, weanticipate to gain between 2 million and 4 million audience reach as the outcome of MAIKOL.”

Participants will travel in separate groups to explore all 13 states in Malaysia. The group will also witness Malaysia’s Independence Day celebration in Putrajaya on 31 August. 

It is anticipated that 30 to 40 stories will be generated by the participants, consisting of feature articles, postings, live feeds and stories on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and blogs. 

Fully utilising the power of social media, hashtags such as #MalaysiaTrulyAsia, #VM2020 and #MAIKOL2019 will be used throughout the programme to gain more traction for the publicity.

Key to the success of this programme is the partnerships between Tourism Malaysia and the private sectors. AirAsia and Sunway Group, as principal airline and venue sponsors of the programme respectively, have come together to provide strong support. 

AirAsia Regional Commercial Head Amanda Woo says,“AirAsia as a truly Asean airline is excited to be onboard for this programme. With our network across 10 Aseancountries and beyond, now everyone can visit Malaysia. Our strong domestic network also allow visitors to travel interstate conveniently. As we approach Visit Malaysia 2020, we hope to continue working closely with Tourism Malaysia and other stakeholders to drive Malaysia’s tourism growth and to connect Malaysia with the world.”

Chief Executive Officer of Sunway Malls and Theme Parks, H.C. Chan says, “We are delighted to support Tourism Malaysia's effort in promoting Malaysia in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020. We hope this campaign will further drive tourist arrivals into Malaysia, boosting the tourism industry of our nation. 

Ultimately, this will also benefit the many attractions in Malaysia such as our vibrant Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, which houses the nation's first theme park Sunway Lagoon, one of the largest shopping malls in Malaysia, Sunway Pyramid, 5-star Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa and more.”

Meanwhile, state tourism stakeholders, hoteliers and tourism product owners have also stepped forward to collaborate on this programme and ensure its success.

-Tourism Malaysia.

Travel Malaysia 2019 @ Singapore Expo ( 4 ~ 6 October 2019 )

Travellers and vacation planners are in for a treat as the biannual Travel Malaysia Fair returns to Singapore Expo!

Travel Malaysia 2019
4th to 6th October 2019
11am to 9pm Daily
Singapore Expo Hall 5A

See you there!

-Travel Malaysia Fair facebook.

Tourism Contributes RM41.69 Billion To Malaysia Economy With 13.35 Million Tourists In The First Half Of 2019

PUTRAJAYA, 23 AUGUST 2019: Malaysia welcomed a whopping 13.35 million international tourists and recorded a 6.8% growth in tourist receipts, thus contributing RM41.69 billion to the country’s revenue during the first half of 2019.

Tourism performance also saw growth in terms of per capita expenditure, rising by 1.9% to RM3,121.6 while the Average Length of Stay (ALOS) climbed by 0.4 nights to 6.2 nights.

Year		First Half 2018		First Half 2019		Growth
Tourist arrivals		12,730,368		13,354,575		+4.9%
Tourist receipts		RM39.0 billion		RM41.69 billion		+6.8%
Per capita expenditure		RM3,064.7		RM3,121.6		+1.9%
ALOS		5.8 nights		6.2 nights		+0.4 nights

Top ten international tourist arrivals for the first half of 2019 were from Singapore (5,381,566), Indonesia (1,857,864), China (1,558,782), Thailand (990,565), Brunei (627,112), India (354,486), South Korea (323,952), Philippines (210,974), Vietnam (200,314) and Japan (196,561).

ASEAN arrivals continued to dominate the share of tourist arrivals to Malaysia with a 70% contribution. The medium-haul market and long-haul market occupied a 20.8% share and a 9.2% share respectively.

Overall, the performance of the short-haul, medium-haul and long-haul markets registered positive increase with 4.7%, 7.1% and 1.8% growth respectively compared to the first half of 2018.

Top five countries with highest receipts were Singapore (RM11.56 billion), China (RM7.09 billion), Indonesia (RM5.71 billion), Thailand (RM1.70 billion) and Brunei (RM1.52 billion).

Top five countries with highest expenditure per capita were Saudi Arabia (RM11,376.90), United Kingdom (RM5,241.5), Canada (RM4,593.1), China (RM4,546) and United States (RM4,537.90).

Top five countries with the highest average lengths of stay were Saudi Arabia (10.5 nights), France (8.7 nights), Germany (8.3 nights), Netherlands (8.1 nights) and Canada (7.7 nights).

-Tourism Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia partners Expedia to boost int'l tourist arrivals

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 20 -- Tourism Malaysia is partnering with global travel platform Expedia Group for two key tourism collaborations in efforts to drive international tourist arrivals to Malaysia in the coming years.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the first collaboration was to promote Malaysia as an outstanding tourist destination by showcasing the country's unique wonders, attractions and cultures, as well as support tourism industry digital innovation.

In the second collaboration, both parties would embark on an Expedia Media Solutions global campaign to promote inbound travel from Australia, Japan and the United States (US) to Malaysia, he said.

The partnership will see a joint execution of destination marketing campaigns to highlight Malaysia's hidden and unique tourist attractions, as well as to promote a variety of accommodation to Expedia Group’s more than 750 million monthly visitors globally.

"Expedia Group has over 200 travel booking websites in more than 70 countries around the world and work with hundreds and thousands of lodging and flight partners to cater to the differing needs of modern travellers today.

"This timely strategic collaboration will support Malaysia’s target of achieving 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100 billion in tourist spending set for the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign," he said at the exchange of documents for the collaborations here today.

Tourism Malaysia was represented by its director-general Datuk Musa Yusof, while Expedia Group was represented by its senior vice president, commercial strategy and services, Greg Schulze.

Mohamaddin said the collaborations, alongside with marketing and promotional activities that have been lined up, would firmly put Malaysia on the map of travellers everywhere and aspire them to experience the great diversity that the country offers.

Meanwhile, Musa said through the strategic cooperation with Expedia Group, Tourism Malaysia has targeted the arrival of 220,500 tourists from Australia, the US and Japan within six months of campaign.

-bernama.

Tropical fruit farm operators urged to be well prepared for VMY 2020

RAUB, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Entrepreneurs in the tropical fruit industry need to prepare well for the upcoming Visit Malaysia Year 2020, said Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Sim Tze Tzin.

He said this is to intensify the agro-tourism industry which is definitely a focus of domestic and foreign visitors, especially those who love the concept of orchard-based tourism.

"All industry players need to get ready for Visit Malaysia 2020 by ensuring their products are of the highest quality. For example, for Duriotourism, they need to focus on ensuring the quality of the durians.

"Farm operators are reminded to adhere to the Malaysian Good Agricultural Practices (myGAP) scheme. On the factory side, they must ensure that only the best durians are exported or supplied to the local market," he told reporters here today.

Sim said this after visiting the M Durian Fruits Sdn Bhd factory, which processes various varieties of durian including frozen Musang King, and inspected the 48-acre Tanah Aina Farouq durian orchard in Raub, Pahang here.

Sim said orchard operators should prepare well so that tourists can really enjoy and have fun at the orchard while enjoying the fruits such as the 'Musang King' durians while travelling.

"Industry players need to welcome visitors who love durians. I hope the agro-tourism packages would also include the best of rambutans, mangosteen, duku langsat, etc. so that visitors are convinced to come again, " he said.

Sim also said Malaysia had exported 565 tonnes of frozen durian to China since May this year generating a revenue of RM24.3 million.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry estimates that 1,000 tonnes of premium varieties of Musang King (D197) and Black Thorn (D200) are exported to China every month.

He said the ministry was optimistic that the durian would be an industry under the New Avenues for Wealth Generation, with exports estimated to reach about RM500 million a year.

-bernama.

Visit Malaysia 2020 Retro Havoc World Tour

PUTRAJAYA, 19 AUGUST 2019 – YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, today officially launched the VM2020 Retro Havoc World Tour, in a colorful event in Putrajaya. YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar himself put the VM2020 logo on the car, and flagged off the machine from the launching pad.

The World Tour, runs by organiser Retro Havoc Sdn. Bhd, will see local driver Tengku Hedri Engku Hassan to drive the iconic Toyota AE86 for more than 25,000 kilometers across 25 countries. The Tour will cover countries including China, Mongolia, Latvia, Russia, Germany and ends in France.

Preparations already took place in months, as Tengku Hedri and two co-drivers will drive intensively, as well as promoting VM2020 to all visiting places along the challenging path. The Tourism Malaysia offices worldwide will also come to assist on the activities and hype up the publicity.

The event is part of larger ongoing VM2020 promotions that is taking place before the December window closes. Now, Tourism Malaysia is actively promoting all international events in Malaysia as part of the strategy to attract international tourists and boost tourism receipts.

Tourism Malaysia expected more tourists to visit the country in the coming months, due to the Year End Sale event, Moto GP and FIM EWC and FIA WTCR, all from October to the end of the year.

For the record, the official statistics until May 2019 highlighted positive growth of 4.8% to 10.9 million tourists, up from 10.5 million in 2018. VM2020 is set to attract 30 million international tourists with RM100 billion in receipts.

-Tourism Malaysia.

Malaysia Domestic Tourism Performance 2018

PUTRAJAYA, 15 AUGUST 2019: Tourism Malaysia today conducted a joint press conference with the Department of Statistics, Malaysia, to present the performance of domestic tourism for the year 2018.

Number of domestic tourists showed a double-digit growth of 10.9% in 2018, recording a total of 78.2 million domestic tourists as compared to 70.5 million domestic tourists in 2017.

Total expenditure by domestic tourists also registered a double-digit growth of 11.7%, recording a total of RM60.4 billion as compared to RM54.1 billion in 2017.

Average per capita expenditure rose by 0.7% to RM772 as compared to RM767 in 2017.

Expenditure for shopping activities recorded the highest percentage share of the total expenditure at 26.8%. This was followed by expenditure on fuel (15.4%), food and beverages (13.9%), expenditure for visited households (13.7%), accommodation (13.0%), transportation (8.4%), other activities (4.9%), and expenditure before the trip/packages/entrance fees/tickets (3.9%).

The average length of stay showed an increase of 3.8% to 2.44 nights in 2018 from 2.35 nights in 2017.

The state which received the highest number of domestic tourists was Pahang with 9.2 million arrivals. This was followed by Johor (7.8 million), Perak (7.6 million), Selangor (6.8 million) and Negeri Sembilan (6.1 million).

Domestic tourists preferred unpaid accommodation provided by relatives and friends as the main choice of accommodation. It recorded the highest percentage of 68.2%, followed by hotels (20.4%), apartments (4.4%), homestays/vacation homes (3.0%), chalets (2.3%) and rest houses (1.7%).

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Datuk Mohamaddin bin Ketapi says, “Domestic tourism continues to play an important role in enhancing the national economy, and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture will continue to work closely with Tourism Malaysia to support domestic tourism promotion.”

He says, “The encouraging growth of domestic tourism in 2018 inspires and motivates the ministry to make the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign a success. It is a national mission to ensure Malaysia remains competitive in the global tourism industry.”

“We hope that all Malaysian citizens will embrace this mission and continue to support the Malaysian tourism industry,” he adds.

Also present at today’s joint press conference was YBhg. Dato' Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia

Malaysia’s 2018 domestic tourism statistics is obtained from the Domestic Tourism Survey conducted in cooperation with the Department of Statistics, Malaysia.

-Tourism Malaysia.

2019 IWWF Waterski World Championships @ Putrajaya, Malaysia ( 13 ~ 18 August 2019 )

-IWWF.
http://iwwf.sport/waterskiworlds2019/

Ganjaran lebih RM150,000 menanti kaki pancing

Pantai Sepat terkenal dengan spesis pari bersaiz mega yang pasti menjadi buruan kaki pancing pada pertandingan memancing sempena Malaysia Surfcasting Tour: A Journey To Visit Malaysia 2020 yang akan berlangsung di pantai itu Ahad ini.

KUANTAN - Hadiah lumayan bernilai lebih RM150,000 bakal menjadi rebutan kaki pacing pada siri jelajah pertandingan memancing sempena Malaysia Surfcasting Tour: A Journey To Visit Malaysia 2020 yang akan berlangsung di Pantai Sepat di sini Ahad ini.

Pertandingan anjuran bersama Tourism Malaysia dan Wakjali Event Management itu salah satu usaha mempromosikan lokasi pelancongan menarik seluruh negara sempena Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2020.

Pada pertandingan itu, juara bakal membawa pulang hadiah wang tunai RM100,000, tempat kedua (RM13,000) dan pemenang tempat ketiga (RM5,000).

Bagi pemenang tempat keempat akan membawa pulang wang tunai RM1,500, tempat kelima (RM800), tempat keenam hingga ke-10 (RM400) manakala RM300 bagi pemenang tempat ke-11 hingga ke-100.

Acara yang mendapat sokongan Tourism Pahang dan Majlis Perbandaran Kuantan (MPK) ini turut menyediakan hadiah cabutan bertuah termasuk sebuah televisyen LED 60 inci dan empat TV LED 32 inci, 40 hamper dan 10 barangan Igloo.

Bagi peserta yang membuat pendaftaran awal, 1,000 helai t-shirt akan disediakan untuk mereka.

Pengurus Wakjali Event Management, Md Zali Kasran berkata, pertandingan yang masuk siri keenam selepas Melaka, Kelantan, Selangor, Terengganu dan Perak itu akan bermula seawal jam 8.30 pagi dan dijangka selesai jam 12.30 tengahari.

Menurutnya, Pantai Sepat dipilih sebagai lokasi pertandingan memancing kali ini berikutan pantai yang panjang dan amat sesuai untuk aktiviti itu selain mempunyai kemudahan logistik khususnya homestay dan hotel.

“Pantai ini terkenal dengan pelbagai spesis ikan berkualiti tinggi seperti gerung belang, ebek, haruan tasik, ketuka, gelama, ikan yu, todak dan lain-lain.

“Kita jangkakan peserta pasti teruja untuk memburu spesis pari berikutan kawasan pantai sepanjang empat kilometer itu memang terkenal dengan ikan pari bersaiz mega”, katanya.

Md Zali berkata, semua spesis ikan dipertandingkan kecuali sesirat dan kerapu.

“Andai keadaan air pada hari pertandingan jernih, peserta dijangka memburu spesis todak yang dipercayai banyak menghuni dasar pantai berkenaan.

“Pada pertandingan kali ini, kawasan pantai sepanjang 3.5 kilometer dikhaskan untuk memancing bagi memberi keselesaan kepada peserta,’’ katanya.

Beliau berkata, bagi pemancing berminat untuk menyertainya, yuran penyertaan dikenakan RM100 untuk satu joran, bagaimanapun peserta hanya dibenarkan menggunakan dua joran.

“Kaunter pendaftaran akan dibuka 24 jam di lokasi pertandingan bermula jam 12 tengah hari Sabtu ini.

“Pihak penganjur menitikberatkan aspek kebersihan justeru kutipan sampah akan dilakukan sejurus pertandingan berakhir. Peserta juga diminta agar menjaga kebersihan kawasan pantai dengan membuang sampah di tong-tong yang disediakan”, katanya.

Menurutnya, selain memancing, beberapa acara sampingan turut diadakan seperti pertandingan mewarna (dua kategori), pertandingan beyblade dan memancing keli kanvas.

"Sebarang pertanyaan berhubung pertandingan ini boleh berhubung terus di talian 019-6203040, 012-2141401 dan 013- 3838655," katanya.

-Sinar Harian.