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TourismFirst_February_issue

22 OuTbOu Nd: MaLaysIa malaysia will focus on positioning itself as a destination for the niche segment and family outbound from india, says tourism minister India is an important market for us, amongst the top six source markets for a long time now. In the past ten years, we have seen a growth from 150,000 tourists to over 722,000 tourists, which is quite significant. There have been changes in the traveller profile as well. Earlier, Malaysia was seen as one among the trinity including singapore and Thailand. Now, we see people booking exclusive Malaysian holidays and also opting for places beyond Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. These are all encouraging signs for us. ,, dAto’ SerI MohAMed nAzrI ABdul AzIz minister of toUrism And CULtUre, mALAysiA The days when Malaysia was clubbed with a planned visit to singapore and Thailand by the Indian outbound seem to be truly behind us. Malaysia, thanks to its diverse tourism products, especially with the niche segment – which the outbound has taken a keen liking to, ranging from golf, spa, wellness, shopping and weddings – has truly emerged as a standalone destination. Now, the Malaysian tourism ministry is assiduously planning to stake claim on the family outbound with sharp focus on four key uNEsCO sites in the country, apart from promoting the spa and wellness segment. On radar are not only major tier-1 cities, but also important tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India, beside an amplified presence in the online space. In an exclusive interview, TourismFirst speaks with dato’ seri Mohamed Nazri abdul aziz, hon’ble Minster of Tourism, Malaysia to understand how the country is poised to make the most of its diverse assets, beside deciphering some important trends in the country’s inbound. Excerpts: By ShAShAnK SheKhAr how important is tourism for the Malaysian economy? What is its stake in the overall economic growth and development? According to the Tourism Satellite Account 2015 report prepared by Department of Sta- tistics Malaysia, contribution to the Tourism Direct Gross Domestic Product (TDGDP) to the GDP is 6%. In terms of GNI ranking for 2015, tourism is the third in ranking behind Oil, Gas & Energy (rank 1) and Wholesale & retail (rank 2). Employment in the tourism industry is 2.9 million or about 20.7% from the total employment for 2015. As part of Malaysia’s growth plan towards high income status, tourism was selected as one of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) under the National Transformation Programme (NTP) in 2010. The impact of tourism goes beyond tourist arrivals or tourist receipts. Its impact is most important on the sustainable development of our economy and society. Since the inception of NTP, the tourism industry has opened up new oppor- tunities and benefited Malaysians. Malaysia has developed quite a number of products, especially in the niche segment. how much is the niche segment driving traffic for you? Based on Departing Visitors Survey(DVS) conducted by Tourism Malaysia, overall, shopping, health & wellness and MICE (Meet- ing, Incentive, Convention, Exhibition) are the niche segments that are growing as the main purpose of visit for tourists to Malaysia. However, Indians are amongst the high spenders while on vacation and we have seen this trend while they holiday in Malaysia as well. It’s great to see that the Indian market is warming up to the concept of niche tour- ism. Shopping, Golfing, Destination weddings and honeymoons are quite popular with the Indian ‘niche’ travellers. Needless to mention, the returns are high from this segment and in the coming years you can expect some aggressive marketing activities to promote these niche products. At the same time, we are looking forward to new attractions generating renewed interest to the destination - Resorts World Genting’s 20th Century Fox World outdoor theme park and Ipoh’s Movie Animation Park Studios. Malaysia has been a pioneer in creating world-class infrastructure, especially in the asian region. have the footfalls been commensurate to the Malaysian government’s efforts in that direction?

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