Domestic Tourism Dominates MATTA Fair.

11th March, 2013

Domestic Tourism Dominates MATTA Fair.

KUALA LUMPUR - Domestic tourism plays a major role in the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair, the much-awaited event for Malaysian travellers, said its president, Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun. Therefore, the three-day, 35th MATTA Fair which begins this Friday, offers a variety of domestic tourism packages, besides international packages.

"This time, MATTA Fair will have a total of 1,100 booths filling up 25,000 square metres of space at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC). The Matta Fair gets bigger and bigger every year, with more emphasis on domestic tourism," said Mohd Khalid.

He said this in a joint press conference with Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) at KL Sentral here today.

Elaborating on domestic tourism, Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab said a survey for 2011 found that the percentage of Malaysians travelling within the country and to international destination was about the same.

Tourism Malaysia's survey showed that in 2011, Malaysians made a total of 131 million trips within the country, and this generated RM42 billion. "If we divide the number of trips to 27 million Malaysian population, this means each Malaysian made four to five trips within Malaysia in 2011," he added.

Malaysia Airlines regional senior vice-president (Malaysia and Asean) Muzammil Mohamad said the airlines offered airfares with discounts of up to 47 per cent off normal market fares for domestic travel. "In addition, our holidays marketing arm, MasHolidays, offers many types of holiday packages for both Malaysian domestic, as well as international destinations," he said, adding that flights to Sabah operated as usual.

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