30mil tourists target by 2020

Langkawi: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the hotel sector in Malaysia is growing at a rate of 8.5 per cent with 250 new hotels having opened last year."We are pleased that brands such as Weston, Mercure, Sheraton, W. St Regis, Four Season, Hyatt and others see the value of Malaysia for their business expansion and investments," he said, adding that last year the country also welcomed a total of 25.9 million tourists with RM2.2 billion in receipts.

"We are looking at attracting 30 million tourists by 2020 considering the country's favourable exchange rate and being a value-for-money destination."

He also stressed that Malaysia's hotel rates and prices of food and beverages and other holiday lifestyle choices are among the lowest but highest in quality.

"Furthermore, upcoming attraction developments such as Desaru Coast in Johor, Impression City Melaka and 20th Century Fox World Theme Park in Genting Highlands, when completed, will be the fresh and latest attractions in Malaysia," he said.

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He said Malaysia makes the ideal destination for MICE and business events as well as caters for honeymoon and wedding celebrations.

Our country, he added, is a wonderful choice as a filming location.

"It would interest you to know that the box office Hollywood hit last month, "Crazy Rich Asians", was actually filmed mostly in Malaysia at places such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi."

On the PATA Travel Mart event, Mohamaddin said he is pleased to see the overwhelming response and participation from delegates from all over the world.

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Daily Express Malaysia

This year, he said the country recorded a total of 212 organisations as international sellers from 34 destinations, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand and others.

On the part of Malaysia, Mohamaddin said the country is taking part in the event in a big way with some 67 sellers comprising state tourism boards from Johor, Kesha, Labuan, Penang, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak. - Nikko Fabian

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