PERTH, AUSTRALIA, 28 June 2013 – Malaysia’s newly appointed Tourism & Culture Minister YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz led a delegation of the country’s industry players to Australia recently in a global promotional campaign for Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

The Tourism & Culture Minister arrived in Perth on 20 June to host a media conference and the Malaysia Truly Asia Evening, officially announcing the launch of the VMY 2014 campaign. Besides Perth, he has also hosted a series of trade industry events in Auckland, New Zealand (16-17 June) and Melbourne (18-19 June).

Visit Malaysia Year 2014, comprises an intensive tourism campaign that will promote Malaysia internationally including Australia. The global campaign aims to attract 28 million tourists to the country next year, with a target of 620,000 Australian tourists.


Australia is one of Malaysia’s key markets.  The first quarter of 2013 already saw a hike of 11% in tourist arrivals from Australia compared to the same period last year.       

“I believe that there is a great potential to boost this figure further. During my visit here, I will be engaging with travel wholesalers, retailers, airlines and the MICE industry to find new ways to work together to attract more Australians to Malaysia, particularly during Visit Malaysia Year 2014.   

“Besides Australia and New Zealand, we will also be carrying out the VMY 2014 promotional campaign in other key markets to raise awareness on the event and to identify ways to further boost our tourist arrivals,” said Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri.

Last year, over half a million Australians travelled to Malaysia, making Australia the eighth top tourist generating market to the country.

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.tourismmalaysia.gov.my/

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia. While the Ministry of Tourism & Culture implements tourism policies, conducts studies and offers incentives for industry players, Tourism Malaysia focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia at the domestic and international level. Driven by its aspiration to promote Malaysia as a destination of excellence in this region, Tourism Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception and has emerged as a major player in the nation’s socio-economic landscape. In 2012, Malaysia registered 25 million tourist arrivals and RM60.6 billion in tourist receipts.

In 2014, Malaysia will celebrate its fourth VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR (VMY) with the theme “Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia”. The VMY 2014 promotional campaign has started this year with a series of year-long special events and activities leading to VMY 2014. It will contribute to the Government’s target to receive 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in receipts by 2020, as outlined in the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) 2020.    

Press contact:
Media Relations Unit:
Mr. Razaidi Abd Rahim, Senior Asst. Director, Communications & Publicity Division
Email: razaidi@tourism.gov.my

Editorial Unit:
Ms. Anis Rozalina Ramli, Senior Editor, Communications & Publicity Division
Email: anisramli@tourism.gov.my