 Malaysia
will step up its tourism promotion in Russia and Central Asian countries
which are relatively untapped new markets, Tourism Minister Leo Michael
Toyad said on Tuesday.
He said the country had been concentrating on its traditional markets in
Asian, Arab and European countries and packaging tours according to these
markets, he said.
"To add to the tourist arrivals, we will expand our promotion to include
Russia and Central Asia," he told reporters after launching KL
Fashion Week 2005.
Dubbed as Malaysia`s premier special event, KL Fashion Week is jointly
organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd and L`Oreal Malaysia.
The showpiece will be held over the next two months with the climax of
the show from May 3 to 8.
Last year Malaysia recorded 15.7 million tourist arrivals, a 50 per cent
increase from the previous year and an 18 per cent increase from 2002.
Toyad said the international tourism industry offered tremendous
potentials, especially with over three billion tourists expected to travel
worldwide in the next 10 years.
"The tourism industry employs over 600,000 Malaysians and with the
tourism boom, we expect over one million Malaysians to be employed in this
industry in the next five years," he said.
The ministry was also hoping to attract repeated visitors to the country
in line with the global tourism trend, he said. |
