KUALA LUMPUR, 21 November 2017: At the recent World Travel Market in London, YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, met with Richard Quest, CNN International’s anchor and journalist, for a one-on-one interview.

As Asia’s tourism blossoms, CNN wanted to know what that meant for regional competition. During the discussion with CNN, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri discussed the importance of healthy regional competition between ASEAN destinations. He went on to talk about learning from neighbouring countries in a spirit of friendly collaboration between nations.

Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri said, “It is a healthy competition. In fact, during the ASEAN@50 (campaign to commemorate the 50^th year of the founding of ASEAN), we worked together, we campaigned together to feel the warmth and invite tourists to come to ASEAN.”

CNN also inquired about the Malaysia Truly Asia campaign.

Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri said, “Before, people always thought of Malaysia as a single ethnic country. Through the Malaysia Truly Asia campaign, we have shown that we are a nation of multi-culture, multi-lingual, multi-racial. It has helped us as a society to become moderate people.”

World Travel Market is an annual travel trade show, which brings destinations, airlines, hotels and tourism products from around the world together to discuss business and strategies for a sustainable future.

Malaysia took part in the exhibition from 6 to 8 November with a 130-strong delegation led by the Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri. It marked the country’s 34th year of participation in the premier travel and tourism trade exhibition since 1983, a gesture of Malaysia’s dedication to strengthening the UK and Europe markets.

Last year, Malaysia recorded a total of 26.8 million tourist arrivals and RM82.1 billion tourist receipts. Of this, 400,269 tourists were from the UK market. According to top tour operator Kuoni in its Worldwide Trends Report 2017, Malaysia rose to 10th place (from 14th place in 2016) in the list of most-preferred long-haul holiday destination for UK travelers.

ENDS

For more media releases, media info and media features on Malaysia’s tourism industry, kindly visit the Media Centre of Tourism Malaysia’s website at http://www.tourism.gov.my/

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia. It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination. Since its inception, it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2016, Malaysia registered 26.8 million tourist arrivals and RM82.1 billion in receipts, placing it among the major tourism destinations of the world.

Press contact:

Media Relations Unit:

Edzuar Zar Ayob Azari, Senior Deputy Director, Corporate Communication Division
Tel: +603-8891 8767
Email: edzuar@tourism.gov.my

Editorial Unit:

Anis Rozalina Ramli (Ms), Senior Editor, Corporate Communication Division
Tel: +603-8891 8759
Email: anisramli@tourism.gov.my