Huge returns
PUTRAJAYA: The Tourism Ministry has moved to silence critics who claimed that the sum it had spent failed to translateinto sound returns for the country.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen yesterday revealed that last year alone, the revenue from tourism amounted to RM53 billion.
“The ministry has, since 1990, been allocated a RM460 million annual budget but yet we have been seeing a steady increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
“Basically, for every RM1 we spent, we get back RM115,” she said, asking sceptics to also look up statistics by the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation.
She said the ministry’s annual budget was also used to finance the operations
of its 44 offices worldwide.
Only tourist stay-overs of more than 24 hours were included as arrival statistics, she said, adding that it was just about a decade ago that the country recorded 10.2 million tourist arrivals before it doubled to 23.65 million last year.
The 2020 targets are 36 million arrivals and revenue of RM168 billion.
Malaysia, she noted, was one of only seven countries, among them, France, China and Korea, which recorded a spike in arrivals of 7.1 per cent last year, while most other countries recorded a dip of about 7.1 per cent.
She also slammed her critics for claiming she had been bringing in “low quality” tourists instead of high-spenders, saying she would let the statistics speak for her.
“Please don’t insult China which is one of our main sources of arrivals as these tourists spend like crazy here.
“You can check with all levels of the economy to see the impact of these
tourists on them, from retailers to hoteliers.
“So check your facts before alleging that their arrival does little to our revenue,” she said, adding that it was unfair to label Chinese tourists unfavourably as out of the one million who arrived here last year, only 153
ended up as over-stayers.
Malaysia, she said, was now also striving to increase its long-haul tourist arrivals, including those from Europe, Russia as well as New Zealand and Australia.
Currently, some 30 per cent of tourist arrivals were from long-haul
destinations with the remaining 70 per cent coming from Asia, she said after a press briefing on the promotion of Malaysia’s parks and gardens to the international market at the Heritage Agriculture Park here, yesterday.
The briefing was held as a followup to her 10-day visit to Australia and New Zealand last month which came under opposition scrutiny in Parliament.
Dr Ng said Malaysia needed New Zealand and Australia to lead the way and share with the country their success stories and experiences to help promote its lush parks and gardens to the world.
With its more than 33 lush parks and gardens promising to become high-yield tourism products, Dr Ng said Malaysia could be a competitor to noted floral destinations like Kunming, China, which enjoyed thousands of arrivals from New
Zealand alone per promotional exercise, where each tourist spent RM15,000.
Malaysia, she said, was now looking at New Zealand and Australia as new markets to boost tourist arrivals to Malaysia.
The target arrivals from Australia for this year has been set at 130,000, with 73,000 more to come from New Zealand.
“We are adding new products, including tours to gardens and parks as well as village homestay attractions.
“This is where Malaysia can take advantage of its rich bio-diversity and eco-tourism products.
“We also have all the additional attractive packages such as diversity of plants and herbs to give the extra tourism values as that’s what tourists are always attracted to — our country’s natural bio-diversity.”
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen yesterday revealed that last year alone, the revenue from tourism amounted to RM53 billion.
“The ministry has, since 1990, been allocated a RM460 million annual budget but yet we have been seeing a steady increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
“Basically, for every RM1 we spent, we get back RM115,” she said, asking sceptics to also look up statistics by the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation.
She said the ministry’s annual budget was also used to finance the operations
of its 44 offices worldwide.
Only tourist stay-overs of more than 24 hours were included as arrival statistics, she said, adding that it was just about a decade ago that the country recorded 10.2 million tourist arrivals before it doubled to 23.65 million last year.
The 2020 targets are 36 million arrivals and revenue of RM168 billion.
Malaysia, she noted, was one of only seven countries, among them, France, China and Korea, which recorded a spike in arrivals of 7.1 per cent last year, while most other countries recorded a dip of about 7.1 per cent.
She also slammed her critics for claiming she had been bringing in “low quality” tourists instead of high-spenders, saying she would let the statistics speak for her.
“Please don’t insult China which is one of our main sources of arrivals as these tourists spend like crazy here.
“You can check with all levels of the economy to see the impact of these
tourists on them, from retailers to hoteliers.
“So check your facts before alleging that their arrival does little to our revenue,” she said, adding that it was unfair to label Chinese tourists unfavourably as out of the one million who arrived here last year, only 153
ended up as over-stayers.
Malaysia, she said, was now also striving to increase its long-haul tourist arrivals, including those from Europe, Russia as well as New Zealand and Australia.
Currently, some 30 per cent of tourist arrivals were from long-haul
destinations with the remaining 70 per cent coming from Asia, she said after a press briefing on the promotion of Malaysia’s parks and gardens to the international market at the Heritage Agriculture Park here, yesterday.
The briefing was held as a followup to her 10-day visit to Australia and New Zealand last month which came under opposition scrutiny in Parliament.
Dr Ng said Malaysia needed New Zealand and Australia to lead the way and share with the country their success stories and experiences to help promote its lush parks and gardens to the world.
With its more than 33 lush parks and gardens promising to become high-yield tourism products, Dr Ng said Malaysia could be a competitor to noted floral destinations like Kunming, China, which enjoyed thousands of arrivals from New
Zealand alone per promotional exercise, where each tourist spent RM15,000.
Malaysia, she said, was now looking at New Zealand and Australia as new markets to boost tourist arrivals to Malaysia.
The target arrivals from Australia for this year has been set at 130,000, with 73,000 more to come from New Zealand.
“We are adding new products, including tours to gardens and parks as well as village homestay attractions.
“This is where Malaysia can take advantage of its rich bio-diversity and eco-tourism products.
“We also have all the additional attractive packages such as diversity of plants and herbs to give the extra tourism values as that’s what tourists are always attracted to — our country’s natural bio-diversity.”
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