SPEECH BY

YB DATO’ SERI MOHAMED NAZRI TAN SRI ABDUL AZIZ

MINISTER OF TOURISM & CULTURE, MALAYSIA

AT PATA MALAYSIA CHAPTER

FELLOWSHIP DINNER

RENAISSANCE KUALA LUMPUR HOTEL

27 MARCH 2015

Salutations:

YBhg. Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin

Chairman, PATA Malaysia Chapter, and

Deputy Director General, Tourism Malaysia

YBhg. Dato’ Mirza Mohammad Taiyab

Director General, Tourism Malaysia

YBrs. Mr. Sam Cheah

President of Malaysian Association of Hotels

Members of the PATA Malaysia Chapter

Members of the media

Ladies and gentlemen

1. Good evening and thank you for inviting me to share this special night with all members of PATA Malaysia Chapter. I hope that you had a fruitful meeting earlier.

2. Before I proceed, I’d like to congratulate Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin, PATA Malaysia Chairman, and all members for a successful performance last year. I’m sure receiving the PATA Most Innovative Chapter Award at the recent ITB Berlin was the icing on the cake to end the year on a sweet note!

3. I also wish to congratulate the members elected to serve on the Executive Committee for 2015-2017.

Ladies and gentlemen,

4. Crossing the sea to nations bordering the Pacific Ocean was once a novelty. Curiosity of the exotic lands and cultures in the Asia and Pacific area was fuelled by the romantic writings of authors such as James Michener, Herman Melville and Anthony Burgess which conveyed a sense of the region to thousands.

5. Needless to say, PATA’s establishment in 1951 literally opened the borders of travel to these parts of the world. At the time, the world had just emerged from a period of depression and war, and the Western population was enjoying the bounty of a post-war consumer age. The Association was also instrumental in tourism education, marketing Pacific travel as well as maintaining and improving Pacific tourist destinations, and preserving a Pacific experience for the generations to come.

6. Compared to many other countries, Malaysia’s history in organized tourism can be considered to be young. The arrival of PATA on the scene many years back was like having a big brother or sister to cheer us on as we took our first baby steps in tourism. And for that, PATA will forever hold great significance and nostalgia for many of us working in the Malaysia tourism industry today.

7. Even today, the charm of Asia and the Pacific still remains irresistible to many. In 2014, 263 million international tourists came to the Asia Pacific, and the number will keep on growing at a rate of between 5 and 6% in the next four years. By 2019, we may well see an inbound count of more than 670 million!

Ladies and gentlemen,

8. While the growing tourist arrivals figure is good news for tourism nations in the region, the challenge is in how to manage increasing numbers of tourists while maintaining sustainable tourism development. Developing and maintaining a successful tourism industry have clearly become a major element in the economic and social development of many countries in the region, Malaysia included.

9. As such, I am happy to see that the programmes implemented by PATA Malaysia Chapter have focused on this issue, in line with the overall aspirations of PATA.

10. I am also glad to note that the young have a voice on PATA’s platform. I believe that the tourism industry needs this breath of fresh and young air among us. After all, they are the ones harnessing the technologies of the day and driving the future of tourism.

11. The younger generation may not have been around to witness the pioneering spirit of PATA when it was at the threshold of opening up a new tourism frontier. After all, they were born into a world that was already borderless, when travel was already affordable and immediate.

12. However, I hope that we will be able to engage with the younger generation more actively as we maneuver the ins and outs of the technological era of tourism. Certainly, PATA Malaysia Chapter’s effort to reach out to the young generation through programmes such as the career fair will ensure that our tourism industry will be sustainable for years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen,

13. I feel that I must hasten to end my speech tonight as I gaze upon this sea of faces eager to turn back the hands of time to a period where bell bottoms, big hair-dos and disco balls reigned supreme.

14. But before I do, allow me to once again thank you for the invitation tonight, and to congratulate PATA Malaysia Chapter, under the leadership of Chairman Dato’ Haji Azizan Noordin, for a job well done!

15. Thank you.