PARIS, 30 June 2014 - Tourism Malaysia received the Trophy Innovation Award 2014 in the “Best Innovation for Communication Campaign by Foreign Destinations” category at the event held in Paris on 26 June.

The Ambassador of Malaysia to France His Excellency Tan Sri Ismail Omar and the Director of Tourism Malaysia (France, Spain and Portugal) Abdul Rahim Haron accepted the award on behalf of Malaysia.

“The effectiveness of digital communication and social media has truly helped us advance our reach throughout the country, and most importantly it enabled us to regularly engage socially with the market here, as well as share the best that Malaysia has to offer,” said Abdul Rahim after receiving the award.

The 3rd edition of the Trophy Innovation Award was organised by France’s leading travel trade magazine L’Écho touristique. The winners were chosen by a panel of eight distinguished judges who are key decision makers from the French travel and tourism industry.

Tourism Malaysia through its Paris office submitted its entry on the effectiveness of its creative communications campaign, launched in January 2013, in raising the awareness of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign among tourism industry players, media and the general public. An innovative communication plan created a wider accessibility to consumers, which efficiently promoted Malaysia.

The domestic tagline, themed ‘Malaisie - Fascinante Depuis Toujours’ or ‘Malaysia - Always Fascinating’, helped build the claim on events, festivals and promotions that visitors can look forward  to when they visit Malaysia in 2013-2014 .

For the campaign to be successful, Tourism Malaysia Paris integrated its local campaign with global advertising efforts, combining the strengths of digital/social communication with strategic marketing actions, partnerships, public relations, distribution, training and familiarisation.

In 2013, Malaysia welcomed 145,108 French tourists, which was an increase of 6.6% compared to the previous year. To date, Tourism Malaysia Paris has 31,144 fans on Facebook!

Information : www.tourism.gov.my
Join us on Facebook : www.facebook.com/malaisietourisme

For more information, please contact:-
Abdul Rahim Haron
Director of Tourism Malaysia (France, Spain and Portugal)
Tourism Malaysia Paris, 29 rue des Pyramides, 75001 Paris
Tel: +33 1 42 97 41 71
Email: abdrahim@tourism.gov.my

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 2013, Malaysia registered 25.7 million tourist arrivals and RM65.4 billion in receipts, making tourism its second largest foreign exchange earner and the sixth highest contributor to its Gross National Income (GNI).

Malaysia is celebrating its fourth VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR (VMY) in 2014 with the theme “Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia”. The VMY 2014 promotional campaign has started in 2013 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
Tel: +603-8891 8768
Email: razaidi@tourism.gov.my

Editorial Unit:
Ms. Anis Rozalina Ramli, Senior Editor, Communications & Publicity Division
Tel: +603-8891 8759
Email: anisramli@tourism.gov.my

Photo Caption:
The Ambassador of Malaysia to France His Excellency Tan Sri Ismail Omar (left) and The Director of Tourism Malaysia (France, Spain and Portugal) Abdul Rahim Haron (right) with the Trophy Innovation Award presented by the Director General of Air Mauritius France Philippe Brieu