INTERVIEW MALAYSIA
In Person With... ABDUL RAUF ABU HASSAN
Alan Orbell speaks with Mr Abdul Rauf Abu Hassan about the current state of tourism to Malaysia, future prospects and the key role of travel agents and home workers
ABDUL RAUF ABU HASSAN Director, UK & Ireland, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board
How did Malaysia fare in 2010 and what are the prospects for 2011? Malaysia registered 24,577,196 million tourist arrivals in 2010, an increase of 3.9% compared with 2009. The UK delivered 429,965 visitors in 2010. Despite the challenging global economic scenario last year, tourism was a key revenue generator to the Malaysia economy.
Why should travel agents sell Malaysia in preference to other Asian destinations? No other Asian destination can offer such a diverse heritage and unique culture as Malaysia. The country is Asia in a nutshell, with Malay, Chinese, Indian and indigenous influences. The result is an exciting melting pot of numerous religions and varied cuisines, with a flourishing arts scene. The varied architecture is also second
to none, with the capital Kuala Lumpur, juxtaposing 19th century museums against space-aged skyscrapers. No visit to Malaysia would be complete without experiencing the wildlife of the area, particularly a visit to the orang-utans in Kota Kinabalu. Adventure tourism is also a big selling
point, due to the jungles, caves, volcanic peaks and beautiful national parks. A visitor can hire their own car and explore on their own very easily; the road signs are in English and the cars drive on the ‘British’ side of the road – a unique selling point for an Asian destination.
Are there any new developments in Malaysia which agents can use to sell to first time and repeat visitors? “We have a lot of exciting new hotel development, including the Golden Palm near Kuala Lumpur which opened at the end of 2010. The new five-star eco-friendly hotel has overwater villas which stretch out into the sea in the shape of a palm tree. YTL Hotels has also announced plans to open its newest development, Gaya Island Resort, Borneo this December, just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu on the shores of Pulau Gaya, the largest island in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. Repeat visitors might be interested to experience a close encounter with a primate on Borneo or a high adrenaline F1 experience.
Malaysia is a multi-option destination. Do you promote all these sectors? Yes, actively, the country lends itself very easily to twin-/multi-centre trips as well as stopovers. Most visitors fly in to Kuala Lumpur, spend a few days there to acclimatise and then visit somewhere else, either on our coastline or one of our beautiful islands, most commonly, Borneo, Penang or Langkawi. Malaysia Airlines now offers stopover options on its ex-LHR flights.
What are the main challenges you face in selling Malaysia at the moment? We experience the same challenges as other long haul destinations. Last year (2010) was not an easy year, with volcanic ash, airline strikes, and the recession as well as the APD increase making air fares highly expensive. We recognise that we need to continuously reinvent our position to keep ahead in an extremely competitive market place, largely driven by price.
What is Malaysia doing to promote itself both to consumers and to the trade? Our commitment to promotion is very important to us. In 2011/ 2012, we will be attending several key
Langkawi Village Resort
"We need to continuously reinvent our position to keep ahead in an extremely competitive marketplace"
consumer shows promoting our varied tourism product, including the Chelsea Flower Show in London and the National Wedding Shows in London and Birmingham.
What help can Tourism Malaysia offer agents to help them sell the country? We have a very detailed website (
www.tourism.gov.my) providing lots of information for travel agents. We also produce a monthly e-newsletter which agents can sign up to via our corporate website (
www.corporate.
tourism.gov.my/trade.asp). The corporate site also has available for download a wide variety of facts and figures and training presentations which agents may find useful. I would also recommend that agents sign up to our Facebook page ‘Tourism Malaysia UK’ which includes regular updates on our UK based activity.
Are fam trips an important element in Tourism Malaysia’s promotional efforts? We work closely with the trade and are planning more fam trips for 2011/ 2012 giving agents/operators the opportunity to experience Malaysia first hand.
Overall, how important is the trade to the success of Malaysia’s tourism? Travel agents and home workers form an integral part of our corporate strategy and without their support over the years we would not have seen the significant growth that we have witnessed.
Do you offer assistance to agents who want to visit Malaysia? If anyone is interested in joining one of our scheduled fam trips, they should contact our marketing manager, Danielle Porter;
Danielle@tourism-malaysia.co.uk
www.sellinglonghaul.com • May 2011 57
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68