Campaign For All Malaysians To Embrace Visit Malaysia Year

VIENTIANE, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia will soon launch a campaign for all Malaysians to embrace Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY2014) in line with the aspiration of turning the event into a national mission.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab said Wednesday people from all walks of life must feel that they were the hosts for the VMY campaign and prepare for the presence of the nation's guests next year.

"Nationalising and taking ownership of the programme by the people is important as they are the hosts of the nation's guests," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Asean Tourism Forum, here.

He said the people's role included efforts in beautifying the country and facilitating tourist arrivals.

He also said that all ministries and government agencies could play their part in creating awareness about the campaign by printing the VMY2014 logo on their letterheads.

"If we can mobilise this small effort, it can make a difference," he said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, when launching the VMY2014 campaign in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, said he wanted the campaign to be turned into a national mission involving all parties in order to achieve the target of 28 million tourist arrivals next year.

A total of 24.7 million tourist arrivals was recorded in 2011 while the figure for last year is being tabulated.

Mirza said the 28 million tourist arrivals target was achievable if every Malaysian brought in one tourist as Malaysia had a population of 28 million people.

More tourists will mean more revenue for the country as tourism has become the third largest foreign exchange earner for the country after manufacturing and oil palm.

The tourism industry recorded a revenue of RM58.3 billion in 2011.

Mirza said every year was actually a VMY but next year was chosen specifically to set a new target of tourist arrivals as well as in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the birth of Malaysia following the integration of peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

"We also want to stir domestic tourism as the creation of the Asean Community by 2015 will further facilitate the movement of people in the region," he said.

Tourism Malaysia, he said, would intensify promotional efforts for VMY2014 at all levels and renew training for the frontliners such as immigration, taxi drivers and shopkeepers.

Local governments too must ensure the cleanliness of their areas and the safety aspect of tourists must be ensured, for example, by checking the passenger boat licence and operating requirements, he added.

Mirza said lessons that could be learnt from the past VMY in 1990, 1994 and 2007 were that involvement of all Malaysians was important in sharing the efforts to beautify the country and facilitate the presence of the tourists.

Others lesson included enhancing promotion and publicity as well as all relevant departments coming together in enforcing the safety of tourists and the role of the media in promoting the VMY campaign.

Malaysia has been voted as the 9th Most Visited Country in the World by The United Nations World Tourism Organisation in 2012 and as the 4th Best Shopping City in the World by CNN Travel in 2012 after New York, London and Tokyo.

Last year, Forbes Online chose Malaysia as the 10th Friendliest Country in the World while DinarStandard voted it as one of the Top Tourist Destinations for Muslim Tourists.

-- BERNAMA