SEPANG: The country is stepping up efforts to attract more tourists from Oceania, especially New Zealand, says Tourism Malaysia.
Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof, who is senior director of Tourism Malaysia's International Promotion Division, said New Zealand was a crucial market for Malaysia in Oceania.
He said Tourism Malaysia would launch a week-long Sales Mission and Malaysia's Product Seminar in Oceania (Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide) from Aug 26 to Sept 3.
The roadshow would kick off in Auckland, marking the beginning of a series of events to foster closer relationships between Malaysian tourism operators, the Sabah government and Labuan, as well as travel agents from Penang.
"We will hold a roadshow sales mission in Oceania, starting with Auckland. This initiative is a collaborative effort, bringing together tourism operators, government representatives, and travel agents to engage with our partners in Oceania," he said while welcoming passengers from Batik Air's new expansion to the Australasia region upon their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
"We are thrilled to announce Batik Air’s increase in flight frequency, with six-weekly flights operating from today onwards," he said, adding that Malaysia Airlines offers eight direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, New Zealand.
Meanwhile, he said the increased flight frequency and the strategic roadshows are expected to drive higher numbers of tourists from New Zealand to Malaysia.
"In 2022, Malaysia welcomed 18,000 tourists from New Zealand. This figure is poised to rise with the frequency of flights and intensified promotional activities.
"On average, tourists from New Zealand spend one to two weeks exploring the rich offerings of Malaysia.
"As of June 2023, Malaysia has already welcomed 17,972 visitors from New Zealand, showing a promising trajectory towards surpassing the figures from the previous year," he said.
Batik Air is expanding its presence in Australasia by launching a new route between Kuala Lumpur and Auckland, New Zealand.
The new service, which operated six times weekly via Perth, Australia, commenced on Thursday (Aug 25).
Batik Air and Lion Group strategy director Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said the Kuala Lumpur to Auckland route highlights Batik Air's strong commitment to providing convenient travel options, which extends not only to Malaysians seeking to discover vibrant cities like Auckland but also to New Zealanders, offering them multiple services to explore the beautiful Malaysian destinations such as Penang, Langkawi, Kuching, and Kota Kinabalu.
"We hope that tourists from New Zealand will take advantage of our reasonable rates and dedicated services to explore Malaysia and beyond by connecting to one of the other intriguing locations we fly to," he said, adding that the industry is experiencing high growth, particularly in the Australia-New Zealand regions.
Batik Air offers all-inclusive one-way promotional fares between KUL-AKL at RM1,619 for economy class and RM5,319 for business class.
Also present was Malaysia Airport aviation marketing and development senior manager Zainuddin Mohamed.
