Tourism Malaysia, the promotional committee under the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, is once again participating in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022 with the country’s tourism trade partners to promote Malaysia to the Middle East market.
Showcasing the latest attractions and destinations for shopping, family fun, eco-adventures, honeymoons, luxury holidays, Malaysia will also highlight its reputation as a safe travel destination.
This prestigious annual event will once again be held at the Dubai World Trade Center from May 9th to 12th. This year, the Malaysian delegation was led by Sri Hajah Nancy binti Shukri, Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. The Malaysia Pavilion comprised 64 delegates representing 32 organisations, eager to meet key industry buyers from the Middle East.
Malaysia reopened its borders to international tourists on April 1, 2022. On this point, Sri Nancy commented: “This is indeed a major milestone for our tourism industry as we welcome more international tourists, both first-time and returning visitors, to further our economic development. Now our border Fully open again, we are confident that we will witness a strong rebound in tourist arrivals to facilitate the recovery of our economy. We estimate 2 million international tourist arrivals this year, generating more than RM8.6 billion (AED 7.5 billion) Tourism revenue.”
Before the pandemic, Malaysia received 397,726 tourists from the MENA region in 2019. Saudi Arabia is Malaysia’s largest market, with 121,444 tourists from the West Asia and North Africa region accounting for more than 30% of arrivals, an increase of 8.2% from the previous year.
The Malaysian delegation consisted of representatives from hotels and resorts, travel agencies, tourism product owners, and state tourism boards. During the four-day event, they will showcase their tourism products and services specifically for the Middle East market.
The delegation aims to strengthen the commitment to establish good tourism cooperation, participate in future cooperation, and cooperate with the tourism industry in the region. “We will continue to place a high priority and focus on attracting Middle Eastern tourists to Malaysia, so naturally we will step up our promotions here,” Sri Nancy said at the launch.
Throughout the event, Sri Nancy plans to meet senior executives from major Middle East airlines to discuss future collaborations.
