Dr Ng

The Tourism Ministry will relocate some of its overseas offices and officers to accommodate current demand, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Wednesday.

“This year, we are reviewing to relocate some of the tourism officers and offices overseas. We are looking at the changing trend, the number of tourists’ growth,”  she told reporters after attending the ministry’s monthly gathering at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (Matic), here.

She said that among others, the ministry was looking at relocating its tourism office in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Istanbul, Turkey.

“This is because Malaysia Airlines has a direct flight between Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul, and the city has also become a tourism hub for Europe,” she said.

Dr Ng said this was in line with the ministry’s efforts to draw more tourists from Europe to Malaysia.

She also said that in view of the Chinese New Year on Feb 14 and 15, Malaysia would receive 44 charter flights from North Asia and East Asia.

“These flights are expected to bring 3,760 tourists from South Korea, 3,590 from China and 2,527 from Taiwan. Thirty of the flights will be to Kota Kinabalu and the rest to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kuantan, Johor, Penang and Langkawi.

“We are developing new direct destinations. We hope these charter flights will eventually be converted to regular flights,” she said.

Source: Bernama