TOURISM MALAYSIA TO INTENSIFY TOURISM PROMOTION IN ASEAN REGION

SEPANG, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia will intensify its tourism promotion efforts in the ASEAN region by focusing on business tourism and border tourism.

Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director-General (Promotion II), Lee Thai Hung, said the move was aimed at ensuring Malaysia as a major tourism destination among the 10 ASEAN countries, in line with its commitment to strengthening the regional tourism industry.

He said the company will carry out more sales missions strategically in Malaysia's border areas with Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei.

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"This initiative aims to attract more regional tourists by introducing a range of promotions and competitive tourism offerings.

"In each sales mission, we will bring tourism industry players directly to tourists, including representatives from airlines, hotels, theme parks, as well as homestay operators. This will open up more opportunities for collaboration and enhance Malaysia's attractiveness as a major tourism destination in ASEAN," he said.

Lee said this to the media after attending the Chinese New Year Celebration Ceremony at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminals 1 and 2, here today.

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He was confident that the target could be achieved through various promotional initiatives that would be implemented throughout the year, as well as the arrival of international delegations to Malaysia in conjunction with the ASEAN-Malaysia Chairmanship 2025.

This year, Malaysia will host a variety of regional-level meetings and events, which are expected to attract more business visitors and tourists from ASEAN countries.

"The ASEAN chairmanship will not only open up great opportunities for Malaysia's tourism sector, but also further strengthen the country's role as a major tourism hub in the region," he said.

Last Friday, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was reported to have said that his ministry was reviewing the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (TMM2026) target following the success of the country's tourism sector which exceeded initial expectations.

Tiong said the original target of 36 million international tourists may be increased after Malaysia managed to attract 38 million tourists in 2024, far exceeding the forecast.

Meanwhile, Lee said today's programme saw Tourism Malaysia celebrate the arrival of domestic and international tourists at four major airports in the country in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations and in tandem with promoting the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign. 

Apart from KLIA Terminals 1 and 2, three other celebrations were held at Bayan Lepas International Airport, Penang; Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Sabah; and Kuching International Airport, Sarawak.

-- BERNAMA