MALAYSIA: Malaysia sees more tourist arrivals from China

The total Chinese tourist arrivals in Malaysia increased by 7.5 percent year-on-year to 551,000 in the first quarter.

The momentum may continue to pick up following some encouraging measures by China and Malaysia, Maybank Investment Bank research said in a report Thursday.

The number accounted for only 18 percent of the 3 million target of Malaysian government this year. That said, we hope that it ought to pick up, the report said.

According to Tourism Malaysia, the total visitor arrivals in Malaysia were flat in the first quarter, falling 0.5 percent year-on-year.

China ranked third in terms of visitor arrivals to Malaysia in the first quarter.

It accounted for 8.3 percent of the total visitors to Malaysia, after Singapore at 48.5 percent and Indonesia at 10.6 percent.

Visitor arrivals from China stood at 2.1 million in 2016.

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Announces Tourism Campaign At Arabian Travel Market

Tourism Malaysia’s deputy director general (International Promotion) Azizan Noordin officially launched a new advertising campaign for the West Asian market during a press conference held in conjunction with the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).

The new advertising campaign targets the West Asia, Iran, and North and South African markets in a series of print, broadcast, and online advertisements. It will focus on themes that appeal to travellers from these markets, such as shopping, luxury holidays, eco adventure, family fun, and honeymoon.

Besides that, Noordin also introduced Malaysia’s latest shopping icon Miss SHOPhia (pronounced Sho’ fi’ ah). She is the country’s shopping ambassador and retail queen, who keeps her followers up-to-date with the latest bargains, new fashion, food outlets, and shopping events on her blog. She is their ultimate shopping buddy and gives them the best advice on fashion, trends, the latest gadgets, etc. Miss SHOPhia will also take on cameo roles in viral videos and TV commercials to promote shopping in Malaysia.

The new campaign is in line with Tourism Malaysia’s effort to boost arrivals from the West Asian market. Last year, Malaysia received 316,209 tourists from West Asia, signifying a drop of 10.7 per cent compared to 353,955 arrivals in 2014.

Noordin is leading 124 Malaysian sellers from 77 organisations to promote Malaysia’s extensive tourism offerings at this year’s ATM, which marks the 23rd year of the country’s participation in this prestigious event. It is a testament to its commitment to make Malaysia a top-of-mind destination for travellers from the West Asian market.

The Malaysian delegation is comprised of a good mix of hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, and representatives from state tourism boards. During the four-day event, they will be highlighting their respective tourism products and services that cater specially for the Middle Eastern market.

Noordin will also take the opportunity to meet up with the top management of West Asian airlines, namely Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Oman Air, besides having several interviews with the local media.

Besides having sales missions/road shows to various parts of West Asia and participating in major tourism events like ATM, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia also lends support to efforts that will help boost arrivals from West Asia, such as the concert of award-winning Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram in Kuala Lumpur, which will be held on July 30 and 31, 9 pm, at Merdeka Hall, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Welcomes Luxury Cruise Ship

Mein Schiff 1, a Century class cruise ship made her maiden call to Boustead Cruise Centre (BCC), Pulau Indah recently

The vessel, which sailed from Langkawi arrived with a total of 1,870 passengers and 909 crew members on Nov 23. They received a warm welcome reception from Tourism Malaysia with bunga telur and a cultural performance.

As part of the cruise ship’s 22-night voyage from Dubai to Singapore, she had earlier made a stopover at Muscat, Oman; followed by Mumbai, India; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. The vessel left Klang on the same evening for Singapore.

The welcome reception by Tourism Malaysia is an effort under its Maiden Call programme, an annual activity to welcome ships berthing for the first time in Malaysia. It is part of Tourism Malaysia’s efforts to promote cruise tourism and to attract more ship operators to berth in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, in particular.

Over the last few years, Malaysia has seen an encouraging number of cruise ships calling at the country’s ports. Last year, a total of 421 international cruise ships with 352,322 passengers called at the country’s six primary ports, namely Port Klang, Penang, Melaka, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

MALAYSIA: Tourism Malaysia Logo Used For ‘sex with robots’ Event

Minister says although Tourism Malaysia’s logo can be used freely, it should never have been used for such an event that upset the sensitivities of Malaysians.

The international conference on ‘Love and Sex with Robots’ to be held in Iskandar, Johor has not received the endorsement of the Tourism and Culture Ministry although the Tourism Malaysia logo has been used to promote the event on its website, said minister Nazri Aziz.

Registering his disdain for a conference of that nature, he said yesterday, “Such events upset the sensitivities of Malaysians regardless of their religion. It’s an obscene idea to organise such a conference in Malaysia.”

He was particularly distressed that the organisers had used Tourism Malaysia’s logo on their website loveandsexwithrobots.org when told about it by Malay Mail.

“By using our logo, the organiser is implying Tourism Malaysia endorses the event. The organisers will be told to remove the logo immediately,” Nazri, who is in Turkey, told the news portal.

He also explained that while the Tourism Malaysia logo could be used freely to promote Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015, it was unthinkable to use it for such an event.

Equally aghast about the conference’s theme, was Tourism Malaysia chairman Wee Choo Keong, who was also in the dark about it.

“I am definitely not aware of it. This is the first time I have heard of it. I will look into the matter.

“The logo represents our tourist brand and not by any measure would we have approved its use for such an event.”

According to the website The Second International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots will be held on November 16 in Iskandar Johor. It will be chaired by Prof Adrian Cheok of City University London and Dr David Levy, the chief officer of Intelligent Toys Limited.

Under the button “Fun In Iskandar”, the website promotes the many fascinating places of interest for tourists in Johor with an introduction that reads, “ISKANDAR MALAYSIA is not just a place for business and investments, but packed with rich Johorean culture and heritage, endless family fun and awesome outdoor adventures!”