Tourism Malaysia has just completed a series of international roadshows, promoting Malaysia as a destination of choice to a pair of key markets. From South Korea to Bangladesh, the agency has been busy showcasing the many attractions on offer in Malaysia to an international market, in the hope of drawing larger numbers of arrivals to the country in the months ahead.
From 22 June to 1 July, Tourism Malaysia was in Seoul, South Korea, for the Malaysia Week & Travel Mart; a two-week travel roadshow that drew tourism’s best and brightest from around the world. The event was Headed by Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr. Santhara J.P. Held in tandem with the ‘Malaysia Week’ promotional campaign, various other sister events and travel mart sessions have also been held by Tourism Malaysia in locations throughout South Korea, including Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejon.
Earlier in the month, Tourism Malaysia was busy in Bangladesh, where a pair of roadshows in Dhaka and Chattrogram set out to attract more visitors to Malaysia from one of its biggest and most fruitful emerging markets. The promotional campaign was led by Mr. Syed Yahya Syed Othman, Senior Director of the Strategic Planning Division for Tourism Malaysia, along with five travel agents and two health industry organisations.
“We are thrilled and excited to welcome Bangladeshi tourists back on exciting, new value-driven and action-packed itineraries to experience Malaysia’s best and latest,” said Mr. Syed in a statement at the event, where he drew special attention to the newly opened outdoor theme park, Genting SkyWorld; the refurbished Sunway Resort in Kuala Lumpur; and a “magnificent new attraction”, the Merdeka 118, which is the world’s second-tallest building.
“I am confident that these new attractions, in addition to our beautiful beaches, exhilarating mountains and jungles, and a plethora of activities, will make your trip memorable,” he added, when speaking to the assembled representatives and potential clients at a showpiece event in Dhaka.
Malaysia welcomed a total of 673,065 tourist arrivals from South Korea in 2019. Prior to the pandemic, South Koreans were among the top 10 in both arrivals and per capita expenditure in Malaysia, while also recording a comparatively longer average length of stay. Bangladesh has also emerged in recent years as one of Malaysia’s fastest-growing market sources, with 179,000 arrivals in 2019 – a massive increase of 19.3% on the previous year.
Tourism Malaysia is hoping that, by focusing its attention on these two key source markets, it can pick up where it left off in 2019, welcoming back increasing numbers of visitors to the country’s range of popular and new attractions.
