PUTRAJAYA, 7 MARCH 2018: The Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Tourism Malaysia are participating in the International Tourisme Bourse (ITB) in Germany from 7 to 12 March 2018. It marks Malaysia’s 46^th participation in the biggest travel trade show in the world that gathers 10,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries.

The Malaysian delegation is headed by Madam Haslina Abdul Hamid, Deputy Secretary General of Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, accompanied by Dato’ Sri Abdul Khani Daud, Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General. A total number of 152 participants from 74 organisations from Malaysia are also taking part this year, comprising of state tourism bodies, hoteliers, tour operators, airlines and product owners.

At the press conference in ITB today, Madam Haslina made the announcement that Malaysia would be the Country Partner for ITB 2019 to raise the profile of the destination in the region.

Malaysia has also partnered with the European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Association (ECTAA) as Preferred Destination Partner for 2018. ECTAA is a highly-respected association consisting of 36 travel agent and tour operator associations from 30 European countries with 70,000 enterprises. Malaysia is the first country outside of Europe to be awarded the titleship.

Madam Haslina also shared about Condor Air establishing the thrice-weekly Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur route beginning 5 November 2018 offering 960 weekly seats, and Thomson Cruises’ cruise programme in Langkawi beginning the winter of 2018 with potential capacity of approximately 7,200 passengers.

She said, “All these developments are timely, especially in the run-up to our Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign – a significant year in which Malaysia targets to attract 36 million tourists worldwide and RM168 billion in tourist receipts.”

“These developments also signify our genuine interest to strengthen our presence in this market. With these new developments, we hope to serve our partners here better and give complete assurance of our commitment to tourism growth,” she added.

This year, Malaysia brings to ITB 2018 the many wonderful and diverse offerings of the country at Hall No 26A, Booth No. 117. Taking up 495 square metres of space, the Malaysia Pavilion has been designed to showcase Peranakan Baba Nyonya Heritage.

The Malaysian delegation is at ITB to network and fulfil business appointments, meet with various media houses such as CNBC, Touristik Aktuell, SR Radio and leading German trade media FVW, and meet with airline representatives from Condor and Singapore Airlines.