Tourism Sector in Malaysia is Vibrant

Interview with Noor Lunar Bt. Md. Salleh, Director of Malaysia Tourism Centre

How important is the Tourism sector in Malaysia?

It is a very important sector. The tourism industry in Malaysia is vibrant. Our location gives us the potential to be the hub of Southeast Asia. We are well connected by air and our transportation system is very good. We are closely linked to our neighbours in Southeast Asia. Tourism in Malaysia is a thriving industry. Our biggest advantage is our multicultural society. We have a rich mix of cultures and heritage.

How do you define Malaysian culture?

Malaysian culture is a diversity of cultures from all over Asia. The majority of the population is Malay, but we also have the Chinese, the Indians and the many indigenous tribes. It makes us very diverse. It makes us a melting pot of cultures.

 What is the history of the Tourism sector in Malaysia? What is your mission?

This Tourism Information Centre started in 2001. This used to be a historic building. It used to house our first Parliament. My job includes preserving this building and our heritage. We are a one-stop tourism centre in Kuala Lumpur. We welcome tourist, offer them services. We also have rental spaces for exhibitions or concerts.

Our mission to make this centre a must visit site in Kuala Lumpur. We are in a heritage building and we have excellent facilities. We also have handicraft stores and cultural shows in the afternoons. We want tourists to come see what we have here and sample our hospitality.

What specific events will you organize in 2015?

In 2014 we have a lot of tourism and cultural related events. We are now a combined agency. The ministry now oversees both these segments.

What is the Malaysian Tourism outlook for 2014 and beyond?

We have a Malaysian Tourism Transformation Plan. We have a target of 36 million arrivals, with a view to achieving 138 billion receipts by 2020. We had the Visit Malaysia Year in 2014. We are trying to spur the numbers. The target for this year is 28 million. I am told we are on track. To achieve the plan, we are looking at high impact projects across five teams. We are targeting nature, adventure, family, shopping packages. We also have events packages. We have spa and sports packages. And we are looking to develop business tourism. We believe that tourism must bond with cultural activities, so we are concentrating on our festivals. We are also focusing on eco-tourism programmes. We are showcasing our UNESCO sites as well. As part of this plan, we are offering the ‘Malaysia as My Second Home’ idea for people who would like to come and reside here after they retire.

Do you think the government has been able to successfully position Malaysia on the world’s map? Or do you think more could be done?

Of course we can do more. What we are doing can never be enough. The world changes and we must with it. That was the point of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014. We are doing more to increase tourist arrivals. To keep the momentum going, next year we will have the Malaysia Festival Year, or MyFest 2015. The theme is Endless Celebrations because we feel Malaysia has a lot of cultures that can be showcased. The diversity of our people is what distinguishes us from our neighbors. We have a lot to offer the foreign tourist.

What aspect of Malaysian tourism do you want to promote?

We have a lot to offer. We have destinations and we have themes. For example, if you like shopping, you can come to Kuala Lumpur. If you like to immerse yourself in culture and heritage, you can go to Penang or Malacca. Our history starts in Malacca. It was an important entrepot in earlier times, there is a lot of heritage there. If you are interested in eco-tourism, in Borneo, we have plenty to offer in Sabah and Sarawak. On the peninsula, we have Taman Negara in Pahang, an experience of life in the rainforest, rich in flora and fauna. We would also like to introduce the foreign tourists to our food. Our specialties are satay, nasi lemak, teh tarik, roti canai. We offer different holiday experiences here in Malaysia, city experiences in Kuala Lumpur. We also offer village life experiences with homestays in different villages. We have a lot of packages that we want to promote. We have started rail tourism packages. You can take the train to different parts of Malaysia and homestays are part of the package.

What would you define as Brand Malaysia?

In terms of tourism, it has always been ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’. We have such a mixture of cultures. We have Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai and the indigenous cultures. We have the cultures of the people of Borneo, the Iban, the Bidayuh and others. There are hundreds of tribes with different languages. We are a melting pot of cultures, foods, lifestyles etc.

What is your biggest challenge?

Economic volatility in the world markets makes it probable that the tourism sector will be affected. We have had economic downturns before, like in 1998. We worked harder after that.

What market would you like to develop?

We have cultural offerings, heritage sites and an abundance of biodiversity sites in our rainforests, our many cuisines, the arts, and we would like to develop all of these. We want Malaysian tourism to be a more diversified sector. It’s not just about getting to a destination, but about experiencing everything Malaysia has to offer. We have so much to offer, our history, our architecture, our multiculturalism. We even have a multiplicity of dance forms from the different ethnic groups. These are the things we would like to promote. We even promote arts and crafts tourism. People come here from various places to see high end art work and crafts. We would like to promote our many festivals.

Can you mention some of the events? What are your plans for the future?

Next year is going to be the Year of Festivals or MyFest 2015. We have many events planned. The grand launch will be in January 2015. For now, we are in discussions with the tourism industry players, to let them know what our mission is and what their contributions can be. We have planned incentives for the industry for MyFest 2015.