Tourism Malaysia is exhibiting the best of Malaysian culinary art at the annual Paris Cookbook Fair 2011, the world's largest fair devoted to cookbooks held in conjunction with the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. The award, founded in 1995, honours the best food and wine publications in the world. The award ceremony is held at special locations around the globe and Malaysia had the privilege of hosting the prestigious event in 2006.

Held from 3 to 6 March 2011, the Paris Cookbook Fair features non-stop cooking demonstrations by chefs from all over the world, food tastings, product presentations, press conferences and is considered to be a culinary summit among publishers and food enthusiasts.

The Malaysian delegation to the fair is headed by Dato' Hj. Azizan Noordin, Acting Director General of Tourism Malaysia. Other delegation members include Datuk Chef Wan, MATRADE, AirAsia and Holiday Villa Hotels and Resorts. Tourism Malaysia's partnership with AirAsia is in conjunction with AirAsia X's inaugural flight from Kuala Lumpur to Paris on 14 February 2011.

This promotion is also supported by ‘Kulit Manis - A Taste of Terengganu Heritage', Institut Terjemahan Negara (Malaysia National Institute of Translation) and MPH Bookstore.

The official opening ceremony of the Malaysian booth will be done on 3 March 2011 by H.E. Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Zainal, Ambassador of Malaysia to France.

The fair, which attracts a large international crowd every year, is a good opportunity to highlight the country as a food paradise and as an attractive tourism destination to the French and other European markets.

Datuk Chef Wan, Malaysia's Food Tourism Ambassador and world-renowned celebrity chef, will be demonstrating the fine art of cooking Malaysian cuisine at the International Show Kitchen on 3 March 2011.

Apart from that, the author of cookbook ‘Kulit Manis- A Taste of Terengganu Heritage', To'Puan Rosita Abdullah will also be conducting a series of cooking demonstrations with recipes from her cookbook.

To give visitors to the fair a taste of what is considered to be favourites among Malaysians, chefs from Holiday Villa chain of hotels will be at the Malaysia booth to prepare nasi ayam, roti canai, teh tarik and satay. Not only that, cultural performances will be staged everyday during the fair for the visitors.

Tourism Malaysia is also hosting a Malaysia Night on 4 March 2011 at Theater de La Piscine to build closer relations with members of the French travel industry.

Malaysia's participation in the Paris Cookbook Fair complements Tourism Malaysia's efforts to promote Malaysia as a food haven, i.e. the Fabulous Food 1Malaysia campaign where local delicacies such as roti canai, nasi lemak, nasi ayam and satay are highlighted.

Fabulous Food 1Malaysia:
The ‘Fabulous Food 1Malaysia', a new tourism product, is an annual event to further boost the tourism industry and tourist arrivals to the country. The programme, held yearly from October to December, celebrates the unique and diverse Malaysian culinary fare that so aptly conveys the rich cultural tapestry of Malaysia. Malaysia's participation in the Paris Cookbook Fair is expected to promote the event at an international level.

Tourism Performance:
Malaysia registered 24.6 million arrivals and tourism receipts of RM56.5 billion (EUR13.4 billion) tourist receipts last year.

France registered 111,175 tourist arrivals in 2010, a 1.0 percent increase from 2009 arrivals of 110,054.

This year, the Tourism Ministry is targeting 25 million arrivals and RM61 billion (EUR14.5 billion) in tourist receipts.

For more information, please contact Shanina Samsuri, Advertising Division (America/Europe/Oceania Unit), Tourism Malaysia, Tel: 03-2615 8423 / 03-2615 8188 or Email: shanina@tourism.gov.my or;

Tourism Malaysia Paris
29 Rue des Pyramides, 75001, Paris
Phone: +33 1 429 741 71
Fax: +33 1 429 741 69
Email: mtpb.paris@tourism.gov.my