BANGSAR, 6 July 2022 –
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dato' Sri Hajah Nancy Binti Shukri
exclusively hosted a high tea with nine (9) Ambassadors and High Commissioners
from the ASEAN countries.
It was an absolute privilege for Tourism Malaysia to bring
together, His Excellency Ambassadors from Cambodia, Indonesia, Her Excellency
from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, His Excellency from the Republic of
the Union of Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as High
Commissioners from Singapore and Brunei, for the very first time.
The high tea was held to foster a closer bilateral relationship
between Malaysia and the ASEAN countries as well as to reconnect after two long
years of bracing the COVID-19 pandemic. The meet also served as an introduction
and a teaser to a 3-day-2-night (3D2N) retreat for all Ambassadors and High
Commissioners to explore the state of Pahang, scheduled in August 2022.
During the recent ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) that was held in
Cambodia in January, the Joint Media Statement of the 25th Meeting of ASEAN
Tourism Ministers stated the way forward for the Region to recover through the
implementation of the Post-Covid-19 Recovery Plan for ASEAN National Tourism
Organisations (NTO), which was endorsed in September 2021.
“Moving forward, I believe we can work together to strengthen
collaborations in marketing and promoting the region’s tourism offerings. This
is also in line with the new ASEAN branding ‘A Destination for Every Dream’,
where we can continue to market Southeast Asia as a single destination,” said
Dato’ Sri Nancy during the get-together.
ASEAN countries have been the major contributors to Malaysia’s
international tourist arrivals. In 2019, the total arrivals to Malaysia from
the ASEAN region was 17,880,151, a 68.5% share of the overall arrivals of
26,100,784 tourists. Despite the closed borders in 2020 and 2021, essential
travellers travelling into Malaysia still contributed 68% of the total tourist
arrivals, i.e 2,949,363 in 2020 and 91, 665 in 2021.
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