December 22, 2009 at 10:45 pm
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Tourism traffic from Germany to Malaysia recorded a 17.2 per cent growth from January to November this year, with a total of 118,526 tourists, while the number of tourists from Switzerland grew by 9.7 per cent to 26,194.
The Tourism Malaysia director here, Syed Yahya Syed Othman, said he expected the number of German tourists to Malaysia to rise to more than 20 per cent by end of the year despite the recession and lower budget allocations.
German awareness of Malaysia as a tourism destination had improved considerably and most Germans now knew Malaysia well, he told Bernama.
He said that despite a 20 per cent budget cut and other constraints, Tourism Malaysia had been introducing new products and packages at very affordable prices to attract more tourists from Germany and other countries, besides entering into smart partnerships with key tourism players facing a similar situation.
Besides organising familiarisation tours for travel and tour operators and the media, the Frankfurt office had also launched an “E-Learning Academy” for tour agents in the German-speaking countries comprising Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
“The purpose of this e-learning programme is to educate agents about Malaysia, provide them updated information about Malaysia, coordinate marketing and other activities, besides serving as a platform for interactive contacts between Tourism Malaysia and participants and also within the travel community itself.”
“This will enable the agents to provide accurate and updated information to their customers,” Syed Yahya said, adding that some 13,000 participants from Germany, Austria and Switzerland had taken part in the programme.
The Frankfurt office was also promoting the home stay packages, which included a stay in a Malaysian home to give the tourists a genuine feeling of having stayed with a Malaysian family, he said.
With Malaysia Airlines (MAS) being not able to offer adequate flights from Germany, the Frankfurt office was also tapping the services offered by Singapore Airlines which recently announced that it would intro duce non-stop flights to Munich, the second point after Frankfurt, he said.
“We are working with Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad and, from next year, also with Oman airline.”
He hoped that AirAsia, Malaysia’s low-cost carrier, would fly to an airport in Germany since there was demand for seats from Germany to Malaysia.
He said the Tourism Malaysia office in Frankfurt was making preparations to participate in the International Tourism Bourse, the world’s biggest tourism show, to be held in Berlin in March next year.
“We have participated in more than 17 exhibitions and other events this year. In 2010 we plan to organise roadshows in Germany and Switzerland,” he said.
“For 2010, we are targeting a growth of 20 per cent. Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia where tourism traffic shows signs of increasing, according to the World Tourism Organisation.
“Although Thailand and Bali continue to be popular, Malaysia’s popularity is also growing,” he added.
He said German tourists looked for cultural attractions, nature, heritage, lifestyle, sun and beaches.
Source: Bernama