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Focus on Malaysia:
Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia
Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia has been a major catalyst for improved trade and tourism ties between the Middle East and Malaysia. Launched in 2002, the magazine has been at the forefront of promoting bi-lateral ties between Malaysia and the Middle East.
After doing a thorough research on bi-lateral relations between Malaysia and the Middle East, we focussed on four major sectors to highlight through our publication. These included:
• Tourism
• Higher Education
• Health Tourism
• and Manufacturing
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| Ambassador of Malaysia to the UAE Dato' Syed Al Habshee "breaks the ice" during the launching ceremony of the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia held at the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce |
The magazine was the first of its kind done specifically for the Middle East markets and proved to be a huge success. After the launch of the magazine (in six GCC countries of Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates), tourist traffic from the Middle East to Malaysia doubled in 2004! The huge success of the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia in promoting Malaysia in the Middle East countries was commended by the ambassador of Malaysia to the United Arab Emirates: "This publication has served as an excellent medium to promote direct contacts between Malaysian manufacturers and Middle East companies.
"It has also served as a ready-reference guide for business and leisure visitors to malaysia from the Middle East," wrote the ambassador of Malaysia. "I fully endorse the excellent work done by the publishers of the Business &b Tourism Guide to Malaysia and recommend Malaysian companies to give serious consideration to this publication.
"As the only official publication introducing Malaysian companies to the Middle East audience, Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia has played an instrumental role in highlighting Malaysia both as an attractive tourist destination as well as a source for manufactured goods in the Middle East. This publication has also played an important role in promoting Malaysia's health tourism sector as well as opportunities of higher education available in many universities and colleges in Malaysia," wrote the Malaysian ambassador, Dato' Syed Al Habshee.
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| Malaysia's Minister of Health Dato' Chua Jui Meng presents the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia during a press conference in Dubai, |
Following the huge success of the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia, high level delegations from various sectors started visiting the Middle East countries to further consolidate their presence in the region. One such delegation representing the health tourism sector was headed by Dato' Chua Jui Meng, Malaysia's Minister of Health and included prominent members from the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM). "We are happy with the results achieved through the Business and Tourism Guide to Malaysia," said Dato' Dr. Ridwan Bakar, President of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM). "We are hoping to attract more and more health tourists from the Middle East in coming years," he said during a special press conference organised at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Dubai.
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Internet Edition Launched
To further increase the reach and effectiveness of the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia, a special Internet Edition of the magazine was also launched in 2003. Malaysia's
Minister of Information Tan Sri Dato' Seri Yakoob Khalil flew down to Dubai to launch the Official Internet Edition of the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia at a special ceremony held at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The event was attended by high ranking officials, diplomats and the local and international press.
Malaysia attracted 147,646 tourists from Middle Eastern countries last year, an increase of 17 per cent over the previous year. The number of UAE nationals visiting Malaysia grew by 40 per cent to 29,606 in 2005, according to Tourism Malaysia statistics.
"This year we are looking for 30 per cent more Arab tourists than last year," tourism minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said during a recent tour of the Middle East countries to launch a region-wide promotional campaign to attract visitors during this summer holiday season.
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| The launch ceremony for the Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia. Addressing the press conference are Mohd.Omar Abdullah, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and H.E. Dato' Syed Al Habshee, Ambassador of Malaysia to the United Arab Emirates |
"The number of visitors from the Gulf region has risen phenomenally over the last few years, which explains Tourism Malaysia's enthusiasm to woo more visitors from here," he added.
Malaysia is now making new efforts to project a tourist-friendly image among Arab-speaking countries. As part of those efforts, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), now has announcements in Arabic. Arab families visiting Malaysia are handled by a special immigration lane at KLIA. The government of Malaysia is encouraging employment of more Arab-speaking staff at travel agencies and hotels and has urged many shopping complexes to put up signs in Arabic.
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In fact, Malaysia has also launched a "Feel-at-Home" campaign specifically to target Middle East tourists. A Kuala Lumpur street has been given the Arabic name 'Ain Arabia'. The area is a showcase of various Arabic and Middle Eastern food and cultures.
In 2007, Malaysia is celebrating 50 years of independence. To commemorate the occasion, the government has declared 2007 as "Visit Malaysia Year."
Business & Tourism Guide to Malaysia will be bringing out a special edition in Arabic and English for the Middle East audiences to supplement the promotional efforts of Tourism Malaysia in wooing more tourists from the Middle East region.
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