Ministry increases this year's tourist arrival target to 4.5 million

 

KUALA LUMPUR: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry is targeting the arrival of 4.5 million tourists to Malaysia this year and a revenue of RM11.1 billion.

Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said this was more than the initial target of two million tourists, and it was based on the reopening of tourism activities nationwide, increase in vaccination rates and reopening of national borders since April 1 this year.

"In April, 567,299 international arrivals were registered, followed by 1.03 million in May and as of June 17, 773,925 tourists were recorded, making it a total of 2.38 million people arriving here especially from India, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

"So, the total target of two million visitors (which the ministry estimated) in April 2022 was based on optimism. In September, we will revise this target to 4.5 million as international arrivals are currently showing good momentum," she said after the launch of the Tourism Rehabilitation Framework (TRF) 2.0.

Nancy said, according to the Statistics Department (DOSM), services sector revenues increased by 10.4 per cent, with a value of RM473 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

"This growth was driven by the expansion of the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage, accommodation, arts, entertainment and recreation sub-sectors."

Nancy said in order for the recovery momentum to continue, and for Malaysia to achieve resilience in its tourism industry, her ministry and industry players, through Tourism Productivity Nexus (TPN), had improved recovery plans to become the TRF 2.0.

This framework is in line with the strategies under the National Tourism Policy 2020-2030.

"TRF2.0 is no longer focused on the survivability and reopening of tourism activities.

"The focus will be on increasing national income, promoting smart international and national cooperation, empowering local communities, strengthening resilience and ensuring the sustainability of the country's tourism industry in the face of future uncertainties," she said.

There are five pillars in TRF 2.0. They are: supporting the recovery of tourism and cultural businesses; restoring tourist confidence and well-ordered international and intra-regional travel; re-inventing tourism and cultural products or services to enhance competitiveness; coordinating tourism with sustainability and inclusiveness; and, the reinforcement of recovery long-term resilience and crisis preparedness.

Nancy said until May this year, up to RM30 million in financial aid and vouchers had been disbursed to boost domestic tourism.

"As of May, the ministry has given RM23.8 million to more than 15,000 travel companies, RM4.73 million worth of vouchers were redeemed to buy handicrafts, visual arts and books to help entrepreneurs and cultural industry activists, as well as RM2.35 million worth of vouchers were offered for tourism and land transport packages.

"As of June 15, 342 applications worth RM1.64 million were granted for homestay restorations, while 43 applications with a total value of RM886,000 were approved for budget hotels," she said.

Nancy said she hoped TRF 2.0 would drive the tourism sector back to recovery.

She said close cooperation between industry players, local communities, non-governmental organisations and the government was important to achieve the goals and address the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic to create a viable and resilient tourism industry.

"I also hope that this will encourage people to spend and travel, as well as contribute to the national economy.

"At the same time, we expect the impact of inflation to be reduced on the purchasing power of the people. This is important as food inflation was recorded at 4.1 per cent in April 2022."

-nst online.