Tourism Malaysia eyes RM100bn tourism receipts with Visit Malaysia campaign

Tourism Malaysia is targeting to bring in approximately RM100 billion in tourism receipts and 30 million international tourists into Malaysia through its Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign.According to Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi, Malaysia has "all the attractions" that appeal to travellers from the region, from nature retreats to modern and affordable shopping, cuisine, culture and luxury experiences.Tourism Malaysia has been aggressively promoting ecotourism and cultural attractions within the country, such as birdwatching in Putrajaya, Sky Mirror in Selangor, Danum Valley in Sabah, heritage trails in Sarawak, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Penang, and the new integrated destination attraction of Desaru Coast.Last year, tourist arrivals to Malaysia from Western Europe countries (including Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland), grew by 12.1%, bringing in a total of 411,067 tourists. Germany contributed 9,542 tourists to Malaysia, a growth of 17.4%.There are plans to further grow the Germany market and the most recent initiative is the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Airports Holdings and Condor Airlines for summer scheduled charter flights. This development follows the success of a similar initiative undertaken for the winter 2018 season by all three parties. The first three months of the winter campaign saw Condor Airlines plying the Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur route with more than 90% load factor.The tourism minister said: "We hope to continue strengthening our market presence here with this Condor Airlines and Malaysia Airports partnership especially as we build up towards Visit Malaysia 2020.”