KUALA LUMPUR, 6 November 2016: Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz is leading a delegation to promote Malaysia as a premier tourist destination at the World Travel Market (WTM) 2016, from 7-9 November. The business-to-business exhibition for the global travel and tourism industry begins tomorrow at ExCel Docklands, London.

The Malaysian delegation is comprised of 190 members from 50 organisations, which include tour operators, hotels, state tourism agencies and tourism-related service providers as well as officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Tourism Malaysia. The Malaysian delegation will take advantage of this excellent platform to reach out to industry players, media, airlines and tourism organisations there.

On 7 November, Dato’ Seri Nazri will officiate the opening of the Malaysia Pavilion at ExCel London, followed by a Malaysia Evening cocktail event later in the evening. During the cocktail, there will be a launch of the National Geographic Traveller Supplement on Malaysia, which highlights various famous tourism products such as diving in Sipadan Island, Melaka’s heritage trails, Orangutans at Semenggoh, and many others, written and illustrated to the standards and style of the famous publication.

The next day, Dato’ Seri Nazri will host a press conference at the WTM International Press Centre, where he will launch several new tourism products such as the Visit Pahang, Visit Perak, and Visit Terengganu Years for 2017.

Penang will also be introducing several new tourism products such as Entopia, the Penang Butterfly Farm, SPICE, the Subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Centre, as well as the new Design Village shopping mall, which opens this month with 150 shop units.

Also during the press conference, Melaka will be launching its mobile app that will allow tourists to enjoy and navigate the UNESCO World Heritage City better.

To support hoteliers and tour operators, other state tourism agencies from Selangor, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Kedah will also promote their top and potential tourism products to the trade visitors.

WTM 2016 marks the 33rd year of Tourism Malaysia’s participation in the prestigious event since 1983, which reflects the country’s commitment in attracting more travellers from London and Europe to its shores. The event, deemed as the most important travel fair in the European market, is the main platform for Malaysia to promote its tourism offerings and introduce new and upcoming tourist attractions to British and European travellers.

Through its participation in the event, Tourism Malaysia aims to raise and maintain Malaysia’s image as a top tourism destination in the region, besides strengthening its promotional efforts in UK, particularly London. It will also meet and forge closer relationship with industry players from UK and Europe to get their support to sell packages to Malaysia.

Between January and August this year, Malaysia received a total of 278,342 tourist arrivals from the UK, which is a slight increase of 2.3% compared to the same period last year.

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. Tourism Malaysia focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia at all levels. Since its inception, Tourism Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds and it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2015, Malaysia registered 25.7 million tourist arrivals and RM69.1 billion in receipts.

Through the Tourism NKEA (National Key Economic Area), collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, other Government agencies and the private sector have been enhanced to help secure Malaysia’s position as a leading tourist destination and achieve the country’s target of 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in receipts by 2020.

The targets set under the Tourism NKEA will be achieved through the implementation of twelve Entry Point Projects (EPPs) clustered under five themes: Affordable Luxury; Nature Adventure; Family Fun; Events, Entertainment, Spa and Sports; and Business Tourism.

Press contact:

Media Relations Unit:

Mohd Libra Lee Haniff, Deputy Director, Corporate Communication Division
Tel: +603-8891 8752
Email: mohdlibra@tourism.gov.my

Editorial Unit:

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