Malaysia saw a seven per cent decline in Asean tourists last year. PUBLIC DOMAIN
THE total number of Asean tourists visiting Malaysia declined by seven per cent last year due to a lower number of tourists from Singapore and Brunei. One of the reasons is the traffic congestion at Malaysia-Singapore customs checkpoint.
Asean tourists made up of 70.1 per cent of the total number of tourists visiting Malaysia and they are the main source of tourists for Malaysia, according to Tourism Malaysia.
However, the number of Asean tourists last year declined seven per cent compared to the previous year, from 19,443,055 to 18,114,446. Consumption reached 48.5 billion ringgit ($11.71 billion) last year.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Musa Yusof said this in his speech read out by Zainuddin Abdul Wahab, senior director of strategic planning of Tourism Malaysia, at the opening of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Travel Exchange Mart.
Later at a press conference, Zainuddin said the declining number of Asean tourists was due to the lower number of tourists from Singapore and Brunei. One of the reasons is the traffic congestion at Malaysia-Singapore checkpoint, while the other is the intense competition in the tourism industry in the Asean market.
Singaporeans are attracted to other countries due to traffic reasons. More short-term cruise packages offered in Singapore have increased travelling options for them.
Zainuddin said the authorities are taking a serious view on traffic congestion at custom checkpoints.
Tourism Malaysia targets to attract 30 million tourists next year in order to achieve 10 million ringgit ($2.415 million) of revenue.
The number of Indian tourists visiting Malaysia has increased by 8.6 per cent last year while Tourism Malaysia is working on implementing visa-on-arrival for Indian and Chinese tourists.
The Travel Exchange Mart was held at the Everly Hotel in Putrajaya between April 27-28. It offered a platform for local tour operators to sell tourism products to travel agencies in Asean and India. The event attracted 82 local companies ranging from travel agencies and transport operators to hotel and travel service providers to sell their products to 150 buyers from India, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines and Cambodia.
Zainuddin also witnessed Matta signing an agreement with Grabini Malaysia Sdn Bhd to develop an online platform offering local tour operators and consumers travel products including air tickets, hotels, entrance tickets, transportation, tour guides and others. The platform is scheduled to launch this year. SIN CHEW DAILY (MALAYSIA)/ANN
