KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's role as Asean chair and host of UN Tourism's (UNWTO) World Tourism Day next year offers numerous opportunities for the sector, says Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
Urging the tourism industry to seize these chances, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said he had already begun preparations for the events.
"This period will see... numerous tourism-related projects, supporting a full post-pandemic recovery and revitalisation of the sector," he said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 30).
He said Malaysia will also host the Asean Tourism Forum early next year.
Earlier, Tiong visited the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and attended the World Tourism Day celebration in Georgia, where Malaysia officially received the hosting rights for next year’s event.
He also invited his foreign counterparts including Oman's Tourism and Heritage Minister; Bahrain's Finance and Tourism Ministers; Uzbekistan's Tourism and Cultural Heritage Minister; and Georgia’s First Deputy Prime Minister to join the festivities in Malaysia.
In Georgia, Tiong met with his counterparts from Bahrain and Uzbekistan to discuss ongoing tourism and cultural cooperation.
He said Uzbekistan expressed interest in signing an agreement with his ministry to promote Melaka and nearby areas to its citizens in conjunction with next year’s World Tourism Day celebration in Melaka in September.
"Bahrain also agreed to establish a working group to follow up on future projects," he said.
He added that Bahrain’s Tourism Minister Fatima Jaafar Al Sairafi had previously expressed interest in learning from Malaysia to develop Bahrain’s Muslim-friendly tourism market.
"She requested our assistance in connecting with China’s Muslim market," he said.
In their meeting in Georgia, they reviewed progress on these initiatives, which included making contact with their Chinese counterparts and discussing marketing strategies focusing on the extensive Muslim market in Xinjiang and surrounding regions.
He said further updates are expected by the end of the month.
Tiong noted that in tabling Budget 2025, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship would facilitate an Asean-GCC+China summit to extend trilateral cooperation.
He said the Muslim-friendly tourism initiative involving Malaysia, Bahrain and China could serve as a model for this collaboration.
Anwar added that with Malaysia’s chairmanship, over 270 meetings and events are expected to take place nationwide, providing valuable revenue opportunities for the country’s tourism sector.
At its 25th general assembly in Uzbekistan in October last year, UNWTO announced that Georgia would host this year's World Tourism Day, followed by Malaysia in 2025.
