GEORGE TOWN: MALAYSIA Year of Festivals 2015 (MyFest) organisers recently made a pit stop in Penang with talks for stakeholders and industry players on how to make the campaign a success.
Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general Datuk Azizan Noordin and general manager of Visit Malaysia Year 2014 Secretariat general manager Nor Yahati Awang presented the talks at a hotel in Batu Ferringhi.
The food, hospitality and tourism sectors were urged to come up with innovative offers, upgrade the quality and services, maintain cleanliness and develop innovative tourism products.
Nor Yahati said the festivals would be focused on the art, traditions and celebrations of multi-cultural Malaysia.
“The year’s calendar, which has the theme ‘Endless Celebrations’, is packed with festivals of every type, with culture, shopping extravaganza, international events, eco-tourism and theme events among them.
“The target for tourist arrivals is about 29.4 million people with tourist receipts at RM89 billion.
The road shows, which kicked off at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 21, cover the 13 states and federal territories.
“The logo this year is the traditional drum known as rebana ubi, as drums are used by the various major races in Malaysia and thus associated with a multi-cultural society in line with the spirit of 1Malaysia.
“Stakeholders and industry players should help promote Malaysia all over the world and maintain the upward momentum of tourist arrivals with better amenities and facilities,” she said.
Azizan, in his keynote address, said the Tourism and Culture Ministry was tasked to ensure increased tourist arrivals and extended tourist stays next year.
“There is a significant increase of tourist arrivals from the Middle East, while China is a potentially huge market to tap.
“There has been a steady increase in tourist arrivals since 1998, with 5.8 million tourist arrivals then and 25.7 million last year.
“These are the fruits of all the industry players who have contributed enormously towards making Malaysia a popular tourist destination.
“Penang, of course, has maintained its position as the most popular destination in the country with its famous food, cultural and structural heritage, and beach hotels,” he said to loud applause.
Azizan said Penang was also the venue of choice for multinational companies’ meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.
He said 200 events featuring the unique facets of the country such as ethnicity, cultural heritage, cityscapes and culinary delights were planned for next year.
“The ministry has outlined several specific missions to make the campaign a success with the full cooperation of the tourism industry players,” he stressed.
Azizan said all the countries in the world had placed priority on tourism as the top money-maker.
He also showed a detailed visual presentation of all that Malaysia had to offer, such as world-class facilities, hotel and homestays and quality service.
“The many tourism landscapes, unique blend of cultures and heritage, bio-diversity, cuisines, arts, crafts and architecture have placed Malaysia on the map as a must-visit destination.
“Myfest 2015 will continue to use the strengths of the iconic brand, Malaysia, Truly Asia, as leverage for its success,” he said.