TravTalk Middle East Online Magazine
The Middle East is an important source market for Malaysia. To further boost numbers of travellers from the region, Malaysia Tourism will be focusing on families and Gen Z or Millennials, reveals Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim, Head of Secretariat, Visit Malaysia 2026, as they unveil the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign to international media at the ASEAN Tourism Forum.
TT Bureau
Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim, Head of Secretariat, Visit Malaysia 2026, while unveiling the Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign at the ASEAN Tourism Forum, said that the new campaign will be promoted through a number of roadshows in the Middle East over the next few months.
“Visit Malaysia 2026 will target high yield tourists, as well as tourists seeking sustainability. However, the theme for the year will be ‘Malaysia: a sustainable destination and rich in culture’,” he said.
The Visit Malaysia campaign was launched last month by their Prime Minister, Datuk Sri Arnold Ibrahim. Showing the unique logo on the screen, Ibrahim said, “The logo for Visit Malaysia 2026 represents Malaysia’s diverse, multicultural, harmony and natural beauty. For Visit Malaysia 2026, or in short form, VM 2026, we are focusing on two main agendas, which are the high-yield tourists and also the sustainable tourism, with the theme of Malaysia: a sustainable destination and rich in culture.”
He explained, “The theme is in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. So, these are the pillars. In order to achieve the target of Visit Malaysia 2026, we are going to focus on three main pillars, specifically increasing tourist arrivals by converting short visits into extended stays. For example, we have excursionists, we want to convert excursionists to become tourists, especially the tourists who visited Singapore, who visited Thailand, and also at the same time, the Singaporeans and the Thais, the bordering countries, to convert them to non-excursionists to become tourists.” He added, “And extending the length of stay by enriching our cultural, ecotourism experiences, empowering local communities and also improving infrastructure. We also want to encourage higher spending by promoting niche tourism experiences. Our theme goes further to state ‘surreal experiences’.”
