Tourism Malaysia had coordinated the organisation of the 2023 Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) National Tourism Seminars, which took place from the 4th to the 6th of December 2023, at Holiday Villa, Johor Bahru, with nearly 150 delegates participating, consisting of ministries, government departments or agencies under the state government, MOTAC, tourism agencies, private companies, and tourism non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as special involvement from the IMT-GT regional cooperation headquarters (CIMT) Centre and BIMP-EAGA Facilitation Centre (BIMP-EAGA FC).
In a statement released by Tourism Malaysia, the seminar held in order to provide exposure to the states, agencies involved, and key players in the state tourism industry on sub-regional cooperation under IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA. Besides that, it aims to help determine which travel-related goods or services could be combined, marketed, and offered as a joint project in the IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA markets.
The strategic collaboration between Johor Bahru City Council, Pengerang Municipal Council, and Tourism Malaysia is also part of this seminar.
On the second day, participants were taken on a tour of tourism products that have been identified for development and packaging as tourism products in the Desaru and Tanjung Belungkor areas. This Benchmark Technical Visit is held so that participants can identify and reflect on the visit to suit the tourism products and packages that will be selected to be promoted in the IMT-GT and BIMP EAGA markets in particular and throughout Southeast Asia in general.
A dinner function was also organised to celebrate all the participants who had attended from every state throughout Malaysia, which was also attended by Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, and also Raven Kumar Krishnasamy, Chairman of the Tourism and Environment Committee, Johor State Heritage and Culture.
Dato’ Dr Ammar Abd. Ghapar, Director General of Tourism Malaysia said, “The organisation of the IMGT and BIMP-EAGA 2023 National Tourism Seminar is an important initial step towards achieving the IMT GT Vision 2036 and BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 targets”.
“Through this initiative, MOTAC can identify tourism products and packages that can be promoted in the IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA regions to encourage cross-border tourism, as well as increase the competitiveness of IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA as a single tourism destination connected by tourism products.”
“The organisation of this seminar also shows Malaysia’s leadership and proactive efforts through strategic collaboration and close cooperation with industry players, government departments and agencies as well as media representatives,” he said.
