This carnival is set to attract 15,000 visitors throughout the two-day event which starts at 3 pm on 11 July. The main highlights of Karnival Zoom! Desaru 2008 are the Desaru Seafood Nite 2008, Klasik FM Concert on 11 July and Zoom! Concert on 12 July.

             Besides that, the 33 villages around Desaru will each have a booth at the carnival to promote and sell their local products such as home-made snacks, handicrafts, batik, woven products and many more.

            Tickets to the carnival can be purchased at the entrance counters for RM5 per person. It entitles visitors to an all-you-can-eat seafood grill and steam-boat spread during the Desaru Seafood Nite on 12 July as well as participation in the various games and competitions. Some of the games and competitions are the fishing competition, cooking competition sponsored by Maggi, tug-of-war competition, and kids colouring competition. The public can begin registering for the games and competitions from 3 pm on 11 July. Exciting cash and prizes are up for grabs.

            The Friday night Klasik FM Concert will start at 8pm with a great selection of Malaysian oldies performed by local artistes which include Siti Fairuz, Dato Malek Ridzuan, Hail Amir, A.Rahman Onn, S. Mariam, Zam Zam, Asmidar Ahmad, Muhaizam Ahmad, Rozaini Razali, Haziq, Ali Mamak and Sulaiman Yassin.

            The official launch of the Karnival Zoom! Desaru on 12 July, offers visitors a chance to witness a Malaysian record in the making for the Longest Grilled Fish in Malaysia. The feat will see a line-up of fish as long as 450 metres "grill" its way into the Malaysia Book of Records.

            The Zoom! Concert will take place after that with local artistes such as Ali Empire, Shila Abdul, Izwan Pilus, Ameelya and Kumpulan Flavour. Visitors will also stand a chance to win exciting prizes during the lucky draw sessions.

            The Karnival Zoom! Desaru 2008 is organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Tourism Malaysia, in collaboration with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) as well as Kilatan Unggul EZ Events Sdn Bhd. It is set to spark interest among Malaysians and foreign tourists especially Singaporeans to visit Desaru.

             The launching of the Karnival Zoom! Desaru is among the events organised to complement the recently-launched Zoom! Malaysia campaign, a government effort to strengthen and stimulate domestic tourism by motivating Malaysians to plan their holidays and explore the diverse attractions within Malaysia, besides encouraging national integration. The carnival will also strengthen alliances with the public and private sectors to jointly promote tourism products, attractions and events.

For more information, please contact the Director of Domestic Promotion Division, Tourism Malaysia at Tel: 03- 26158188 Fax: 03- 2693 5406, email: enq-domesticpromotion@tourism.gov.my .

Ticket information contact:  KEJORA (Ms. Aniza) at 07- 8221601.

Media enquiry contact:  Kilatan Unggul EZ Events Sdn Bhd, Mr. Abd Halim Jamaluddin, at 016- 9755292.

                                            Issued by: Advertising & Publicity Division, Tourism Malaysia

Date: 9 July 2008

Tourism Infoline: 1300-88-5050 Email: sharonwong@tourism.gov.my

Tel: 03- 2615 8442/8448; Fax: 03- 2615 8299  Website: http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.m/y