BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Malaysia kick started Visit Malaysia Campaign 2020 (VM2020) by participating in the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2020 in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam from 12 to 16 January 2020. The Malaysian delegation was led by YB Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Datuk Mohamaddin bin Ketapi, accompanied by the Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Dato’ Dr. Noor Zari bin Hamat and Director General, Tourism Malaysia, Datuk Musa bin Haji Yusof.
This year marks the 39th anniversary of the event with the slogan “Together Towards a Next Generation of Travel”. During the forum, a series of meetings among ASEAN Tourism Ministers and Senior Officials are held from 12 to 16 January 2020. A joint media statement by the ASEAN Ministers of Tourism will be issued on 16 January 2020 to state resolutions and relevant decisions in developing the tourism industry in the ASEAN region as decided during the bilateral meetings.
In addition to attending the bilateral meetings, Malaysia also participated in ATF 2020 TRAVEX exhibition to engage with Malaysian tourism industry players and organizations which received tremendous support from buyers and media at Tourism Malaysia’s booth. This particular year, ATF witnessed participation from 160 international buyers and 109 international and local media.
A total of 37 delegates from 22 Malaysian tourism industry players including hotels, tour operators, tourism organizations and airlines participated in ATF 2020 TRAVEX. Tourism Malaysia set up a 54-square-foot pavilion to facilitate Malaysian sellers to hold discussions with buyers and provided updates on tourism products and other tourism-related information in Malaysia.
To further enhance VM2020 promotional activities, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia had launched the campaign on 15 January 2020 with the objective to cultivate the enthusiasm and interest of tourists from ASEAN countries especially Brunei to travel to Malaysia in 2020.
Malaysia’s participation in the ATF 2020 is expected to attract more international tourists to Malaysia in order to achieve the campaign targets of 30 million tourists and USD 24.44 billion (RM100 billion).
As a member state of ASEAN, Malaysia is looking forward to the next decade of a more prosperous and relevant ASEAN and will continue to collectively innovate and seek meaningful initiatives to increase tourism growth in the region by incorporating the digitalization tourism while retaining the heritage, tradition and identity that make ASEAN unique for future generations. Apart from participating in ATF 2020, Tourism Malaysia, in collaboration with Horizon Restaurant, Brunei is also organizing the Malaysian Food and Culture Festival for a week from 13 to 21 January 2020. The festival gives opportunity for local citizens, international expatriates and foreign tourists to witness Malaysian cultural performances and savour Malaysian food during the event. BIZ TODAY MONITOR
