Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com 10 | ITB ASIA Official Dailies A video, "Malaysia, Truly Asia - The Essence of Asia", featuring the voice of Yuna captivated audiences. The video won the 2014 pATA gold Award for Best promotional Travel video under the Marketing Media category. The target was to attract a new record of 28m international tourists and RM76bn (US$23bn) in tourist receipts. An achievable feat considering that in 2013, Malaysia reported 25.7m tourist arrivals, up 2.7%, and RM65.44bn in receipts, up 8.1%, a performance that beat expectations and achieved despite a challenging year. For the first quarter of 2014, things looked promising. Arrivals grew 10% to reach 7.09m. The top 10 markets were Singapore, indonesia, China, Thailand, Brunei, india, Australia, Japan, the philippines and the Uk. China was in Malaysia's focus and many campaigns by both Tourism Malaysia, as well as the private sector, were aimed at bringing in Chinese tourists. Then disaster struck. on March 8, MH370 on a routine run from kuala Lumpur to Beijing mysteriously fell off the radar. on board the B777 aircraft were 227 passengers from 14 nations and 12 crew. The majority of the passengers, 153, were Chinese. The MAS disaster was compounded by the abduction of a Chinese tourist by armed men at the Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna in Sabah on April 2. The impact was immediate. According to MAS, bookings from China dropped 50%-60% in May. Malaysia tourism and culture minister, datuk Seri Mohamed nazri Abdul Aziz, said many Chinese tourists, from the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and guangzhou, cancelled their visits. in May alone, numbers from China fell 32% from a year earlier, folowing a 20% drop in April. Tourism receipts also took a hit with Chinese tourists known as big spenders. According to the Chinese international Travel Monitor 2014, compiled by Hotels.com, they spend an average of US$1,086 per day excluding lodging, when travelling aboard. in 2013, Chinese travellers contributed 18% of the RM65.44bn MALAYSiA'S ToURiSM Riding oUT THE HEAdWindS By Corinne Wan taking several measures to revive the confidence of visitors, revealed at the Tourism Cabinet Committee Meeting on August 11 to discuss the effects of MAS flights MH370 and MH17. deputy prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who chaired the meeting, said one of the measures is exemption from visa payments for single entries for tourists from China, india, pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the last quarter of 2014 and 2015. The tourism and culture ministry and the immigration department will study the proposal, including the status of the visa on Arrival (voA) for tourists from China and india, he added. "Although the tourism sector faced challenges and obstacles this year, nevertheless, from January to May, the country received 11.53m foreign tourists, which was an increase of 10.1% compared to the same period in 2013 (10.48m)," said Muhyiddin. in May, right after the Flight MH370 tragedy, the country recorded 2.27m in tourist arrivals, an increase of 10.9% when compared to the same period last year. The numbers were mainly from neighbouring countries and some longhaul markets that still regard Malaysia as an attractive destination. Tourism Malaysia is confident the country is on track to achieve vMY2014 target despite the challenges. director general datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab said that neighbouring countries, such as Singapore and indonesia, have made up for the shortfall. "We hope China tourists come back. if China comes back we will be on a very strong footing," he said. Statistics showed that arrivals from most ASEAn countries enjoyed double digit growth from January to May this year. Singapore provided the highest numbers with 5.79m, up 11.3% over the same period in 2013. indonesia provided 1.11m (+8.4%), Thailand 574,255 (+15.1%), the Philippines 265,555 (+13.9%), Vietnam 113,061 (+25.6%), and Cambodia 30,685 (+10.7%). It is the confidence in these markets which will see the country get back on its feet as a preferred tourist destination in the region. that Malaysia earned through tourism. They made up the third largest group after Singapore and indonesia, at 7% of total arrivals or 61m. The Sabah kidnapping also caused a drop in tourist arrivals from Hong kong and Taiwan. Tourism minister nazri said, "We were doing well for January and February. But of course, the MH370 incident has definitely affected Malaysia's tourism." He cancelled the vMY2014 roadshow in China. "So Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY2014) started off with a big bang, literally, against a backdrop of CGI visuals of the country's multi-delights at Dataran Merdeka (Merdeka Square). Celebrants were treated to a street food fest, as well as entertainment by some of the best artistes in the region. long as there is no closure to MH370, i do not see the suitability of us continuing the campaign in China," he said. And while the government and private sectors were working hard to win back confidence in China and other markets, another disaster struck MAS just five months later. Flight MH17 enroute from Amsterdam, Holland, to kuala Lumpur on 17 July was shot down over eastern Ukraine killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board another B777. never before in the history of aviation has an airline anywhere in the world lost two aircraft in just five months with a total loss of over 500 lives. Confidence in MAS, as well in Malaysia by extension, by foreign travellers fell to a new low, with many cancelling or deferring their holidays to the country. Many also refused to fly on MAS. The government, however, is Left: Malacca River; above: petronas Twin Towers and park in kuala Lumpur. destination: Malaysia

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