KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: To celebrate the country`s 50th anniversary of independence, Malaysia has targeted tourist arrivals of…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: To celebrate the country`s 50th anniversary of independence, Malaysia has targeted tourist arrivals of 19 million, with a special focus in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market under its Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2007 campaign.
Malaysia has managed to conquer about 5 percent of the MICE market share, and we are targeting to increase it to 10 percent, said Zahid Hamidi, deputy tourism minister. We have even set up a special bureau to promote this specific sector.
Malaysia is not only targeting to increase tourist arrivals, but also attract more quality tourists who will spend more and stay here for a longer period such as the Arabs do added Zahid.
According to figures from Tourism Malaysia, tourist arrivals increased from 10.6 million in 2003 to 15.7 million in 2004. It generated almost RM 30 billion in revenue, becoming the country`s second highest foreign exchange earner.
Among other niche tourism products the country will be promoting are ecoturism, edutourism, sports tourism, health tourism, and Malaysia My Second Home. We have divided the world into eight regions, with different marketing strategies depending on their demand.
In 2004, Malaysia received the highest number of visitors from Singapore (9.5 million), Thailand (1.5 million), Indonesia (780,000), and China (550,000).
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