PUTRAJAYA, 8 MAY 2013 – Malaysia’s latest tourism attraction may not be its sandy white beaches or lush jungles, but a handsome young Malaysian attempting to break several records for being the youngest pilot to travel solo around the world in a tiny, single-engine Cessna 210 Silver Eagle aircraft.

Captain James Anthony Tan, 21, will be the first (and youngest) Malaysian to travel 22,000 nautical miles, (41,000 km) across 20 countries, over a 50 day period. This historic flight across the world is set to break two world records – the ‘World Guinness Book of Records’, and the ‘World Aviation Academy’ record for being the youngest pilot to fly 14,000 nautical miles solo around the world. Captain James will also have the honour of stamping a first record in the ‘Malaysia Book of Record’ as the youngest Malaysian and ASEAN pilot to ever attempt the journey.

His expedition, named ‘1Malaysia Round the World’ (1MRTW) and themed ‘1Malaysia 1Dream 1Flight Around the World’ is organised by the Malaysian Youth Pilot Association, and the Malaysian Felda Youth Council, with assistance from 1Malaysia For Youth (1M4U).   

At the time of writing, he is scheduled to arrive at Doha, Qatar, today on 8 May, before travelling to Karachi, Pakistan tomorrow. So far he has travelled through 23 stops across 14 countries since he began his expedition on 28 March. The remainder of his expedition will take him through India, Myanmar and Thailand before returning to Malaysia on 14 May. 

Tourism Malaysia is proud to announce its support of Captain James and so far has provided a warm welcome at major stops on his journey, namely in Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Jordan.
Tourism Malaysia, through its overseas offices and in collaboration with the Malaysian Embassy/High Commission of the respective countries have also arranged for press conferences and media interviews to generate publicity about the expedition, and at the same time allowing foreign media to hear about beautiful Malaysia from the young pilot himself. Captain James has become an unofficial tourism ambassador of Malaysia, as he pilots the single-engine Cessna bearing the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY 2014) logo around the world.

It is believed that Captain James’ expedition will help create an awareness of Malaysia and its many tourist attractions especially on the eve of the VMY 2014 campaign, scheduled to happen next year. This will contribute significantly towards Malaysia’s goal of achieving 36 million tourist arrivals and 168 billion in tourist receipts by 2020.

Last year, Malaysia received 25.03 million tourists, with tourist receipts totalling RM 60.6 billion.

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, Malaysia. While the Ministry of Tourism 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, Editor, Communications & Publicity Division
Email: anisramli@tourism.gov.my