Early start to Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

Date: 17 January 2013

Early start to Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

Don’t miss out on the three-day tourism carnival in Bukit Jalil, writes Zalina Mohd Som

If you have plans for this weekend, put them on hold to join the crowd instead at Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. For three days, starting tomorrow, the stadium is the venue for a three-day tourism carnival, held to coincide with the launch of Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign, themed Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia.

Yes, 2014 may be a year away, but the Ministry Of Tourism and Tourism Malaysia are wasting no time in making early preparations to woo the targeted 28 million tourists. “We are kicking things off in a big way with a grand tourism carnival to create awareness and to gain support from both the public and private sectors,” said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen in a Press conference at her office in Putrajaya.

The highlight of the event will be the official launch by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Saturday. It will kick off at 8.30pm with exciting performances such as Gangnam 1Malaysia Truly Asia before the 500 drums show by various ethnic groups take over as the Prime Minister does the launching. The night will end with performances by artistes such as Datuk Khatijah Ibrahim, rock queen Ella and Jimmy Palikat.

For those who can’t make it to the event, the tourism carnival has a host of activities and events in store from Friday to Sunday. There will be dedicated marquees featuring the country’s tourism products and events such as 1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism Festival, Parks and Greens, and 1Malaysia International Shoe Festival.

Ministries including Youth and Sport, Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism, Higher Education, and Information, Communications and Culture will also set up tents to welcome visitors. Dr Ng said the participation of the various ministries underline the importance of involvement of the various sectors in the tourism industry.

For those with special interests, there will be bazaars focusing on cycling and biking tourism featuring packages, products and gears with big names such as Harley Davidson, Ducati, BMW and Givi. Expect to see specially-designed custom-made choppers on site!

But what is a tourism carnival without a travel fair? Those who want to make an early start planning their holidays will be delighted to find 200 booths at the tourism consumer exhibition, offering holiday and hotel packages.

Other tents not to be missed are Kids Zone - a play centre for kids provided by operators of the newly-opened theme parks in the country such as Legoland, Hello Kitty and Kidzania - and 1Malaysia Food Court with stalls serving favourite hawker food from all over the country. A fruit bazaar will also be put up.

On top of the excitement, visitors will also stand a chance to win exciting lucky draw prizes. To register for the draw, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CutiCuti1Malaysia.

By Zalina Mohd Som | czar-lina@nstp.com.my

Copyright @ 2011 The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad