KOTA KINABALU, Feb 12 – The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) is intensifying efforts to find other markets to exploit to increase tourist arrival growth in Malaysia, said its secretary-general, Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat.
He said the exploration of new markets will be happening soon with the focus on Eastern European countries like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, as well as Central Asia countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
He said the ministry, via Tourism Malaysia, is working closely with carriers like Qatar Airways and Emirates on this.
“This is an extra step to increase tourist arrivals especially for Visit Malaysia 2020 (VMY2020),” he told reporters after visiting the Kota Kinabalu International Airport to have a look at the tourist situation with Tourism Malaysia director-general, Datuk Musa Yusof, today.
He added that focus is also being given to domestic tourism and that Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei are among the biggest contributors of tourist arrivals.
He said same, too, with tourist arrivals from India which are still high according to data on flight bookings, and that “last year, total tourist arrivals from India rose 22 per cent and this year we’re stepping up our game to attract (more) visitors”.
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