Malaysia - Fifty years after Malaysia declared its independence from the British, it is driving hard to draw them - and tourists from the rest of the world - back in.
These days it is hard to miss the ubiquitous advertisements reminding you that Malaysia is simply Asia, as the small nation tucked in between Thailand and Indonesia works to land more of the growing amount of tourism money feeding in to their economy.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism are expected to generate 117.2 billion ringgit ($33.6 billion) of economic activity in 2007, a figure that is expected to boom to 300.9 billion ringgit ($89.8 billion) by 2017.
"Malaysia Travel and Tourism Industry‘s GDP contribution to the total GDP is generally increasing," according to a report from the council issued earlier this year.
Although the country suffered a downturn when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) scare hit Asia in 2003, with the Business Monitor International (BMI) reporting that visitor arrivals in the region plunged as tourists stayed away, arrivals have been climbing steadily.
With 13.29 million arrivals in 2002, the numbers dropped to 10.58 million the next year but then surged to 17.55 million in 2006, according to Tuan Razali, Director of Tourism Malaysia in Dubai.
"We had 12,400,377 arrivals between January and July [in 2007], an increase of 23.9 per cent from 10,014,540 last year," he said.
Driving the increase this year, according to Razali, is the government‘s Visit Malaysia 2007 programme, which has tied in more than 200 events across the country with the nation‘s Golden Jubilee celebration.
The programme is the third Malaysia has held, with the previous ones in 1990 and 1994.
The country is hoping to draw in 20.1 million visitors this year, although some analysts are unsure that target will be reached.
"We are not sure that 20 million can be achieved. However, we remain optimistic on the outlook for tourism in 2007, and will monitor incoming visitor data closely to see if any upward revisions become necessary. We are currently forecasting just over 19 million arrivals to Malaysia in 2007," said a report from Business Monitor International.
Target Middle East
Arab travellers are increasingly seen as a potentially profitable yet currently highly underdeveloped base for the Malaysian tourism industry.
According to BMI, the country was once hoping to draw 500,000 tourists from the region this year, but hit only 36,109 during the first three months of 2007.
That is still an increase of 11.2 per cent over the same period last year.
Razali said there are many factors drawing Arab visitors to the South China Sea nation, including good value for money.
"Visas are free, Kuala Lumpur is a modern city and the shopping is very attractive," he said.
"And for the Eid holidays, most of the aircraft [from the Middle East] were almost 100 per cent full to Malaysia."
Despite those missed targets, BMI‘s report also sees potential for Malaysia to grow into a hot destination for Middle Eastern travellers.
"About two-thirds of Malaysia‘s population are Muslim, and halal food is widely available, making the country an attractive place for Middle Eastern Muslims to visit," said BMI‘s report on the country.
"Malaysian sources also cite that visitors from the Middle East stay twice as long as their peers from other parts of the world - and spend nearly three times more."
Source: www.gulfnews.com (17 Oktober 2007)
