Tourism & Hospitality | Sunday 24 April, 2016 5:43 pm |

Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General (International Promotion) Dato’ Hj. Azizan Noordin will be leading a delegation of 124 Malaysian sellers from 77 organisations to participate in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM). The prestigious annual event will once again be held in Dubai, from 25 to 28 April.   

 

The Malaysian delegation is comprised of a good mix of hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, and representatives from state tourism boards. During the 4-day event, they will be highlighting their respective tourism products and services that cater specially for the Middle Eastern market.

 

Dato’ Azizan is scheduled to officially launch the Malaysia Pavilion on 25 April at the Sheikh Saeed Arena. He will be meeting the media at a press conference later where he will be launching a new advertising campaign for the West Asian market. This is in line with Tourism Malaysia’s effort to boost arrivals from this market by highlighting some of the country’s latest attractions and destinations for shopping, family fun, eco adventure, honeymoon, and luxury holidays.   

 

Dato’ Azizan will also take the opportunity to meet up with the top management of West Asian airlines, namely Emirates Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Oman Air, besides having several interviews with the local media.

 

Besides that, he will be hosting a networking dinner on 26 April at the Grand Hyatt Dubai to thank the tourism fraternity in Dubai and the local media for their support and assistance in promoting Malaysia. 

 

This year marks the 23rd year of Malaysia’s participation in ATM, which is a testament to its commitment to make the country a top-of-mind destination for travellers from the region.  

 

Malaysia is proud to be associated with ATM as it is the region’s leading travel trade event, dedicated to unlocking business potential in the Middle East. With its growing number of tourist destinations, ATM will showcase a diverse range of accommodation options, tourist attractions and new airline routes.

 

Through its participation in ATM, Tourism Malaysia seeks to attract more West Asian tourists to its shores to achieve its tourism target for 2016. Last year, Malaysia received 316,209 tourists from West Asia, signifying a drop of 10.7% compared to 353,955 arrivals in 2014. 

 

Besides having sales missions/road shows to various parts of West Asia and participating in major tourism events like ATM, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia also lends support to efforts that will help boost arrivals from West Asia, such as the concert of award-winning Lebanese superstar Nancy Ajram in Kuala Lumpur. It will be held on 30 and 31 July 2016, 9pm, at Merdeka Hall, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).