As part of its effort to increase arrivals from Singapore to Malaysia, the tourism Malaysia office in Singapore is actively rebuilding the travel demand. In order to give Singaporean travel agents a chance to learn more about Malaysia, the programme is being held there for the first time.
A total of 40 Singaporean travel agents took part in this full-day programme, which included a workshop on cultural heritage at Yayasan Warisan Johor and a Meet-the-Experts seminar at Renaissance Johor Bahru Hotel.
Participants in the cultural heritage tour got to know about Johor’s history, participated in hands-on Malay cultural activities, and attended lessons in Tarian Zapin.
The Meet-the-Experts seminar fostered business engagement and understanding between Singapore travel agents and Malaysia’s stakeholders. A total of five associations attended the seminar represented by Jimmy Leong, the President of the Malaysian Tourist Guides Council, Shahrul Nizar Ahmad, Secretary General of the Malaysian Association of Theme Parks & Family Attractions, Khairul Ariffin Ibrahim, Research Committee of Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, Mohammad Isa Abdul Halim, Director, Experiential & Events of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau and Kam Su En, Vice President of Association of Malaysian Spa.
Dato’ Haji Zainuddin Abd Wahab, Director General of Tourism Malaysia welcomed the participants, and he emphasised that Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture has set the goal of attracting 9.2 million foreign visitors, with an estimated RM26.8 billion (or SGD8.1 billion) in tourism revenue.
“Singapore is still the most important tourist market for Malaysia in terms of arrival and receipt. Based on current Immigration data from January to September 2022, Malaysia recorded a total of 2,973,135 tourist arrivals from Singapore out of total arrivals of 5,556,281.” Dato Haji Zainuddin added, citing that Singaporeans love food and shopping in Malaysia and with its strong currency now, they could enjoy a good holiday in Malaysia.
He believes the strong partnership and accessibility between Malaysia and Singapore over the years has helped to explore new areas of cooperation such as promoting and developing new attractive tourism products and packages.
Some of the new developments in the marketplace are Batam Fast Ferry Service which will commence three times daily from Tanah Merah, Singapore to Tanjung Pengelih, Johor on 25th November 2022. Others are Scoot Airlines’ plan to reinstate its Kuantan-bound flight on 30th November 2022 and Berjaya Air’s plans to commence flights from Singapore to Redang Island anytime soon.
