tourism services M A L A Y S I A

This blog is about tourism and hospitality in Malaysia. The objectives are to provide information, news and events of Malaysia's attraction, access, amenities and ancillary services to tourists, industry players and general public. It may also include global tourism news and shouts, plus a venue to explore the industry development, surveys, measures and comments. We hope it will be informative, educational and useful for all readers. Enjoy and have fun exploring the blog!

Thursday, 11 April 2013

UK tourist arrivals may hit 450,000 this year

Date: 25 February 2013

UK tourist arrivals may hit 450,000 this year

MALAYSIA is projecting 450,000 tourist arrivals from Britain this year, surpassing 2010's 429,900 arrivals. However, over the past two years, tourist arrivals from Britain have declined slightly due to the discouraging economic conditions in the country and the European Union.

Last year, there were 402,207 tourists from Britain while in 2011, there were 403,140 arrivals. Despite that, for both years, the UK was still among the top 10 tourist generating markets for Malaysia.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong said despite Britain's lacklustre economic growth, its currency is still very strong. "The British can stretch the pound by visiting Malaysia," he said.

Zakaria said this year's growth in tourist arrivals is expected to be driven by Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) A380 aircraft, exciting tour packages offered by private operators, as well as the ongoing promotions by Tourism Malaysia. "The deployment of the A380 aircraft for the 12-hour non-stop flight between KL and London will contribute to more tourists visiting Malaysia. This is because for long-haul flights, passengers prefer comfort. MAS is the only non-stop direct flight from London to KL," he said when met in London recently.

MAS started two A380 flights a day for the KL-London-KL route from November 24 last year. The superjumbo passenger jet, which can carry 494 passengers, has higher fuel efficiency, the lowest environmental impact and a more comfortable cabin.

Zakaria said tour operators play an important role in attracting tourists to Malaysia, citing the honeymoon packages initiated by the private sector. He said the media from the UK are also brought to Malaysia to familiarise themselves with new tourism products.

"We also promote luxury holidays in Malaysia, weddings and homestay programmes," he said, adding that the Malaysia My Second Home scheme has also been successful in attracting the British people to live in Malaysia.

He noted that the quality of life in Malaysia, which is at par with Britain, the good exchange rate, excellent infrastructure and all-year-round sunny weather are among factors that have attracted British citizens to Malaysia under the scheme.

"The upmarket hotels in Malaysia are popular with the British people. We had a lot of repeat visitors. We also target military veterans and retired civil servants who've done their service in Malaya. They usually come with their families," he added.

Various events held in the UK by Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation have also helped to promote Malaysia to people in the UK. These include the Malaysia Kitchen Programme, Malaysia Night and Malaysian Spice Kitchen.

By Hamisah Hamid

Travel (Face)bookings.

Date: 25 February 2013

Travel (Face)bookings.

MALAYSIA - While browsing through the Facebook pages of family and friends, you may feel a sudden urge to experience the places they have visited ... and soon, you find yourself engrossed in travel blogs. Worst, you book tickets! But know this: you are not alone.

In the recent Text100's Digital Index: Travel And Tourism study by Redshift Research, 46 per cent of Malaysian respondents - compared to a global average of 26 per cent - regard Facebook as important to help inspire and reaffirm travel decisions. The same percentage of Malaysians would also share travel content that their family and friends might enjoy seeing. The likelihood of Malaysians valuing eco-tourism locations is high as well - much more than the rest of the world.

The survey polled 4,600 respondents in 13 countries, and was carried out last October through online interviews.

Although a substantial number of Malaysians would prefer travel blogs to fine-tune travel decisions, the reliance on social media is much stronger than the other 12 countries surveyed. "As customers are increasingly short of time to carry out exhaustive research, we suspect recommendations from friends or from those within a specific circle may become a more important part of the online travel landscape," said Robert Rosenstein, chief executive office of Agoda.com.

The importance placed on peer experience and digital reviews has surpassed that of traditional travel agents. A solid 78 per cent of Malaysians are enthused by family and friends, and are inclined to trust travel columns and websites with holidaymaker reviews over professional travel guides.

While on vacation, 89 per cent of Asia-Pacific travellers - of which 75 per cent are from Malaysia - use travel apps on their smartphones or tablets primarily for information about local attractions and finding their way around. And 80 per cent of Malaysians would be connected to social media if free WiFi is available.

And this "always connected" tendency stretches across the region as travellers from Asia-Pacific are the most enthusiastic about social media - according to the survey, they are the most attached to their mobile devices in the world.

As a whole, 72 per cent Asia-Pacific travellers used social media to inspire at least one element on their itinerary of recent travels, compared to 51 per cent globally. "The presence of the mobile device is quietly but dramatically changing how we behave when we travel," said Anne Costello, Text100 Asia-Pacific's regional director. "As a result, these technology-savvy travellers feel the travel industry needs to do more to keep up with their fast-growing reliance on the mobile device and social media as part of the overall experience," she said.

By Karyn Anne, The Star

Travel consultants to be accredited as professionals

Date: 22 February 2013

Travel consultants to be accredited as professionals

Lee Pei Qi, reporting from NATAS Travel 2013

THE NATIONAL Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) will officially launch an accreditation programme for Singapore agency professionals on March 14. Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily on the sidelines of the NATAS Travel 2013 which opened today, NATAS CEO Robert Khoo said the programme recognised one’s ability to be a travel consultant.

In comparison, the existing CaseTrust-NATAS Joint Accreditation Scheme, run by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and NATAS, acknowledges the company rather than its workers.

Under the new accreditation scheme, candidates must attend training modules and sit a test in order to be certified. Said Khoo: "This programme will give recognition to those who put in the effort to improve their service and will also make them proud of themselves."

Travel consultants TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to said the new programme would help improve the overall quality of the industry.

ASA Holidays' head of marketing communications, Eileen Oh, said: "This will not only benefit consumers, but the company’s brand image will improve as they can announce they have certified, capable staff."

CTC Travel’s senior vice-president of marketing & public relations, Alicia Seah, said CTC Travel aimed for all its 120 staff to be accredited under the programme by early next year. She said: "This can be a badge of honour for our staff and will help differentiate service excellence levels in this competitive industry."

Khoo is hopeful that accreditation will soon be the benchmark for all travel and tourism industry professionals to measure themselves. He aims to eventually get at least 50 per cent of his members’ workforce certified, adding this would be "fantastic”.

Tourism industry not affected by stand-off.

Date: 22 February 2013

Tourism industry not affected by stand-off.

KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) Sabah has not received any cancellation of visit by foreign tourists from travel agents due to the current stand-off with intruders in Lahad Datu. MATTA Sabah chairman KL Tan said the incident had not affected the tourism industry or recreation spots in Lahad Datu yet as the intrusion took place far from town.

However, he hoped that the government would resolve the issue as soon as possible as it was not a good publicity for Sabah.

He said that after a joint press conference with various business and industry-based non-profit organizations on this issue here yesterday.

Meanwhile, the people in the east coast of Sabah should not feel worried and fearful of the intrusion of an armed group of people from Sulu as the situation is under control by the security forces.

Commanding officer of the 516th regiment of the Territorial Army for east coast of Sabah, Brigadier General Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah, gave the assurance after visiting Lahad Datu on February 19. Liew said he is happy to see Lahad Datu residents viewing this incident rationally and having confidence with the government and the security forces in handling the situation.

He said the people should always understand the role of the government, the police force and the military in ensuring the safety of the people and security of the country. Everyone should therefore keep their trust in the government and the security forces and not listen to rumours passed around by irresponsible parties through the various forms of communication channels.

Liew visited the operation room here to update himself of the current situation there and the status of the negotiations with the intruders. Thereafter, he visited the campsite of the security forces and presented 1,000 boxes of mineral water and three water tanks to them for their daily needs.

In the afternoon, he met with Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein at Tawau airport. It was learnt that Hishammuddin had just returned from his visit to Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu. Liew hoped the impasse could be resolved as soon as possible without any shed of blood.

'High speed rail link to change overall Malaysia, S'pore tourism landscape'.

Date: 22 February 2013

'High speed rail link to change overall Malaysia, S'pore tourism landscape'.

SINGAPORE: Additional connectivity via the High Speed Rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will see overall changes in the tourism landscape of Malaysia and Singapore, said Tourism Malaysia director for Singapore, Noor Ainee Ismail.

She said: "The additional connectivity is foreseen to change the overall tourism setting of both countries. Especially the Malaysian tourism sector, we are positive of seeing a growth in the number of arrivals. It may also encourage the current day-trippers (to Johor Baru) who have time-constraints to explore further destinations such as Kuala Lumpur itself," she told Bernama.

At the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders' Retreat 2013 in Singapore on Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong agreed to build the High-Speed Rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, expected to be completed by 2020.

With the new transport system, it is expected to take only 90 minutes to travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and vice-versa.

According to Noor Ainee, the high speed train will not just see the increase of arrivals into Kuala Lumpur alone. "We are certain that there will be spill-overs to other nearby states such as Perak, Kedah and Pahang," she said.

When asked whether, the rail link would have an impact to other mode of transport, Noor Ainee replied: "Some travellers’ travelling pattern will definitely change when given the option of the high speed train as it serves as a solution to a few issues that may be encountered in travelling (from Singapore) to Kuala Lumpur or beyond.

Citing travelling via road (coach/self-drive), she said travellers may think of encountering traffic congestion, long travelling hours or safety aspects of self-drive. Travelling via flights, for instance, she said the airport might be far from the city, transfer to airport from the city would take approximately 1.5 hours by road, whilst prices were subject to fluctuation Quoting a poll conducted by Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Noor Ainee said:" CNA in getting viewers’ choice of transportation with the new high speed train being an option, 89 per cent out of 117 respondents preferred the new option.

She pointed out that the rail link could also be an opportunity for local coach companies to explore other business models that could complement the new rail link and expand their services to further destinations in Malaysia. Besides that, she said coach companies would still have an edge over the rest in terms of cost. - BERNAMA

Malaysia rated top Muslim-friendly holiday destination.

Date: 22 February 2013

Malaysia rated top Muslim-friendly holiday destination.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is the best place for Muslims around the world to come for a holiday, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said.

“We are proud to say Malaysia is a world leader in catering to the needs of Muslim tourists. We are successful in this niche travel market, thanks to our facilities and the diverse holiday packages tailored to Muslim needs. These include packages offering Ramadan bazaars, Quran recitals and circumcision packages carried out together with homestay programmes,” she said at a press conference here yesterday.

Successful event: Dr Ng launching the WITM-MITE 2013 in Putrajaya. Also present are (from left) WITM-MITE 2013 chairman Razali Mohd Sham, Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general Datuk Azizan Noordin, Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau chief executive officer Zulkefli Sharif and Mohd Khalid.

The media event was to announce the World Islamic Tourism Mart Malaysia International Tourism Exchange (WITM-MITE 2013) that will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur from June 6 to June 9.

Present were Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun and My Events International group chief executive officer Shahul Hameed Shaik Dawood, representing the organisers.

Dr Ng quoted a recent report by Singapore-based Muslim travel consultancy group Crescentrating that rated Malaysia as the world's top Muslim-friendly holiday destination.

The survey put Malaysia ahead of Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. The study ranked countries on how well they cater to the growing number of Muslim holidaymakers seeking halal food and services.

It used criteria that included the level of safety in a country, the ease of access to halal food and prayer facilities, and whether hotels cater to the needs of Muslim guests. On a scale of one to 10, Malaysia came up tops with a grade of 8.3 among 50 nations surveyed.

The survey, released last month, reported that Malaysia is one of the few countries where a traveller can find a prayer place in almost every location be it a shopping mall or the airport. The study also reported that spending by Muslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach US$192bil (RM672bil) a year by 2020, up from US$126bil (RM441bil) in 2011.

Dr Ng said about 21.7% of tourist arrivals in Malaysia, or 5.44 million, had originated from Muslim countries. “Muslims make up about 1.6 billion of the world population and they are now world travellers,” she said.

On the WITM-MITE 2013 event, Dr Ng said it was expected to draw some 20,000 visitors. She said participants from at least 25 countries had registered for the event.

Dr Ng also launched the tourism calendar of events and festivals for 2013-2014, which can be downloaded from the websites of the ministry and Tourism Malaysia. The print version of the calendar is available at all Tourism Malaysia offices and tourist information centres nationwide.

By LEE YEN MUN yenmun@thestar.com.my

World's 1st Sesame Street theme park ride at USS.

Date: 22 February 2013

World's 1st Sesame Street theme park ride at USS.

SINGAPORE - Sesame Street fans will finally get to enjoy the world's first Sesame Street indoor theme park ride when it officially opens on March 1. The indoor ride within the park's New York zone was initially slated to launch in the 2nd half of 2012, but it was delayed.

With the latest addition of the ride based on the world's oldest children's TV programme, this brings the total number of rides at the local theme park to 23.

While this is not the first time Universal Studios is featuring the Sesame Street franchise at its parks, it is the first time it is introducing a themed ride. Universal Studios Osaka has a 4D Sesame Street show. The new attraction, called the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, will feature 12 characters in a fully immersive setting. It has a science-fiction plot and enlists the help of guests to defeat villains.

Director of Park Operations, Brian Machamer, revealed that the site that the new ride sits on was originally planned for an ET-themed ride. But that plan was scrapped. Mr Machamer said: "A decision was made three years ago not to do the ET ride, and to do something more current and more for kids and families to be able to ride together.

"After the park opened, we decided that we needed something more family-oriented so we changed it from ET to Sesame Street. The Sesame Street characters were so successful in Japan, we knew the characters would be well received in Singapore," he added.

RWS also revealed at a press conference on Monday that three brand new characters were created exclusively for this ride. They are: “Macaroni the Merciless” and his partners–in-crime, “Zester” and “Shredder”. The gluttonous super villains have a ploy to steal all spaghetti and noodles on Earth.

When guests hop onto Elmo's rocket, they will get to help Super Grover and Super Elmo - who have both been given superhero status - to stop Macaroni the Merciless and return all stolen spaghetti and noodles to the children on Earth.

Celebrating the launch of the ride, the park will host a special Sesame Street Carnival from March 1 to 3. New York Street will be transformed into an extension of Sesame Street, bringing park guests a weekend of fun and excitement.

Completing the Sesame Street experience at USS, an all-new Sesame Street Character Breakfast at Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor has also been launched. Those who dine at the breakfast buffet will get priority to board the ride before the park opens.

The unique Sesame Street Character Breakfast menu is available on weekends and selected holidays from 9am. Tickets are priced at $44 each for adults and $32 each for children, on top of park entry fees.

By maryanns@sph.com.sg & hteoh@sph.com.sg

1st WITM-MITE 2013 Anchors Malaysia As World's Best Islamic Tourism Exhibition Mart.

Date: 21 February 2013

1st WITM-MITE 2013 Anchors Malaysia As World's Best Islamic Tourism Exhibition Mart.

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The first edition of World Islamic Tourism Mart-Malaysia International Tourism Exchange (WITM-MITE 2013) will anchor Malaysia as world's best Islamic tourism exhibition mart, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.

She said buyers from 30 countries and 200 seller organisations were expected to participate at the four-day event beginning June 6, at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

She said 25 countries had confirmed participation in the event.

"Malaysia, as the best destination for Muslim tourists and the ninth most travelled country in the world, we must use this to anchor ourselves for Islamic events and exhibition," she said at a press conference after the soft launch of WITM-MITE 2013 here Thursday.

The WITM-MITE 2013 will feature various global tourism ministries, national tourism organisations, travel trade operators, tour agencies, hoteliers and a wide array of related industries supporting local and foreign partners.

Copyrights @ BERNAMA

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Thursday, 11 April 2013