The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit opened the Malaysia Pavilion at the International Tourismus Borse (ITB), a leading European tourism fair in Berlin, Germany on 10 March, 2010.

Also present were the Federal German Minister for Economics and Technology, Rainer Bruederle; the Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia, Tuan Haji Azizan Noordin; Deputy Chairman for Terengganu State Tourism, Cultural, Arts and Heritage Committee, YB Wan Abdul Hakim bin Tan Sri Wan Mokhtar; Tourism Malaysia’s Director of International Marketing (Americas, Europe and Oceania), Datin Normasila Musa; and Director of Tourism Malaysia Frankfurt, Syed Yahya Syed Othman.

The Malaysian delegation to Berlin led by Tuan Haji Azizan was taking part in ITB from 10 to 14 March 2010. This was the 36th time Malaysia participated in the annual tourism exhibition.

The Malaysian delegation comprised tour companies, airline representatives, travel agents, hotel operators and four state governments (Penang, Langkawi, Terengganu and Sabah). 

Participation in this annual travel trade fair would strengthen Malaysia’s presence in the European market as ITB Berlin is the largest and premier fair for the global tourism industry. It is also an ideal platform to promote the latest tourism products in Malaysia.

For participants from the Malaysian private sectors, the ITB in Berlin provided the opportunity to enhance their networking ties with their counterparts from the travel trade around the world.

A “Malaysia in Berlin” Concert hosted by Malaysia was held at Haus des Rundfunks, Charlottenburg in Berlin on 11 March 2010. A performance by the renowned Berliner Symphoniker led by Dato’ Ooi Chean See, the famed Malaysian classical music conductor, saw a unique orchestral show that aptly reflected the multi-cultural spirit of both Malaysia and the city of Berlin.

Dato’ Ooi who is also Malaysia’s Tourism Goodwill Ambassador will assist in strengthening the country’s tourism promotions in Germany.

Other activities during the five-day tourism fair included media interviews and business appointments with key European tour operators and travel trade media.

STATISTICS

During 2009, Malaysia saw a total of 23,546,863 tourist arrivals compared to 22,052,488 in 2008, indicating an increase of 7.2 per cent.

The European market has proven to be a strong and viable source of tourists for Malaysia. It is the second largest contributor to visitor arrivals after Asia. For 2009, Malaysia registered 1,150,594 visitors from Europe with a 13.8 per cent growth compared to the previous year (2008).

For more information, please contact Tourism Malaysia at tel: +603 2615 8188; fax: +603 2692 4576. Or kindly e-mail your query to: div-intlpromotion@tourism.gov.my.

Issued by: Communications & Publicity Division, Tourism Malaysia
Date: 12 March 2010
For more information, please contact
Tel: +603- 2615 8188
Fax: +603 26158447 or,
Email: sitirahmah@tourism.gov.my
Website: www.tourism.gov.my