2,000 meetings @ GTS

It was two great days of networking with the travel trade in the Middle East at the Gulf Travel Show 2022, organised with Tourism Malaysia as platinum partner.

Shehara Rizly

We are very happy to announce that we will be opening our borders from 1st April 2022 this year to all international travellers and those fully vaccinated do not need to quarantine. Gulf Travel Show provided us the opportunity to connect and engage with partners from the Gulf region and promote our destination and keep them up to date about the latest inforvmation on Malaysia. We are hoping to physically meet our travel partners very soon in Malaysia or when we attend Arabian Travel Market in May. We will also be conducting our own roadshow this year. Some of the main strategies we are working on will be to work with airlines and travel agents.

Anush Gasparyan, Managing Director, Karavi Tour Armenia
The Middle East is the place where extraordinary civilizations, cultures of wonderful people with different faiths and traditions meet. Being so close culturally we too have a great motivation to welcome travellers from the Middle East and we presented at GTS 4.0 the wonders of Armenia ensuring excellent unique services and stays with unforgettable impressions. We had effective professional meetings with representatives of the Middle East travel trade, especially with buyers, who are motivated and interested in the destination of Armenia.

Dato’Sri Yeat Siew Chuong, Executive Chairman, Gembox Holdings Sdn. Bhd.
Malaysia introduced a new destination, Gembox@Nilai, which is a place where tourists will experience the moment of “Wow Malaysia”. There are a variety of food products, handicrafts, cultural performances, heritage arts and fashion from all 13 states in Malaysia. It can be said that Gembox@Nilai is like Mini Malaysia and tourists can carry out “ice breaking” activities to learn all about Malaysia here. GTS 4.0 was an excellent platform to introduce Gembox@Nilai to the international market and connect with tourism industry players especially from the Middle East.

Mirza Ghalib, Deputy Director, Tourism Malaysia, Dubai office
The fourth edition of the most popular show, the Gulf Travel Show, was a success for our partners from Malaysia on the virtual Business to Business sessions with buyers from the Middle East region. We are very much satisfied with the contacts and inquiries that we have received during the event, and our partners have been full with appointments since the announcement of Malaysia is re-opening on 1 April 2022. This is a good sign for us and we hope to see you in Malaysia soon.

Ivana Karanikić, General Manager, Prolingua Travel DMC
Participating at GTS 4.0 is of utmost importance for us as we are intensively working on the Middle East travel market since 2018 and particularly because this year we have intensified, in cooperation with some tourism stakeholders from Western Balkans, the promotional activities, so you will soon hear us at Arabian Radio Network channels, as well as on other important media. I see this participation as an opportunity to meet both existing and future partners in order to raise awareness of Western Balkans’ market as well as us as one of the best connoisseurs of that travel destinations.

Yap Sook Ling, Managing Director, Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel Sdn. Bhd.
Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel showcased our products to cover three market segments: FIT and families, expatriates and online booking systems. We look forward to welcome discerning FITs and families, who are looking to experience Malaysia intimately. Over the quiet period of COVID-19, we have spent our time to re-look at all our products and improved them. We have incorporated some of the trends that we anticipage customers would like, such as going to places that are not crowded and could offer private experiences.

William Tan, Director, Corporate Marketing & Communications, Berjaya Hotels & Resorts
Berjaya Hotels & Resorts showcased 10 hotels and resorts located at various holiday destinations in Malaysia. We emphasised on promoting three most sought-after island destinations in Malaysia, which are the Langkawi Island, Redang Island and Tioman Island. Potential buyers or travel distributors can find our hotels in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang and Bukit Tinggi too. Malaysia will transition into the endemic phase and will reopen to international travellers on 1 April 2022. There will be more travellers looking forward to visit th country.

Catherine Tan, Director of Sales, New World Petaling Jaya Hotel, Malaysia
We showcased New World Petaling Jaya Hotel to the Middle East market, which is suitable for both leisure and MICE stays. Middle East is very important, as prior to pandemic we have been receiving very good response from this market. We are located in the heart of Petaling Jaya, near to one of the best theme park in Malaysia, Sunway Lagoon. We met more people to widen our networking and to know the updates for this market as well as had a fruitful discussion with all the potential buyers.

Olga Vekhlic, Tour Manager, Dolores Travel Group
Dolores Travel participated for the first time at the Gulf Travel Show 4.0. We showcased our company as a full service DMC catering to all tourism services in Uzbekistan and the Central Asian countries. Dolores Travel offers excellent professional services with our new fleet of vehicles, par excellence guides, interesting and unique programmes, all at a very competitive cost for the GCC market.

Darshana Manglani, CEO, Phoenix International Marketing Services
We attended Gulf Travel Show 4.0 to create awareness of our presence in the UAE and GCC markets and to form new partnerships with companies across the globe. We are a company that enables easy access and entry for new suppliers. We are here to support hospitality and tourism businesses to launch and enhance their brand in the region, thereby increasing their sales.

Humphrey Ginibun, Senior Marketing Manager, Sabah Tourism Board
Sabah Malaysian Borneo is the hidden jewel of Malaysia, and Sabah Tourism Board is proud to promote Sabah as a preferred holiday destination for families, honeymooners and adventure travellers. Mt Kinabalu in Sabah is Malaysia’s first World Heritage site and Sipadan Island is renowned as among the top dive sites in the world. These are Sabah’s top iconic tourism products.

Mary Wan Mering, Director, Marketing, Sarawak Tourism Board
We showcased at the Gulf Travel Show the filve pillars of the Sarawak destination’s unique selling points on Culture, Adventure, Nature, Festival and Food. The experiences of being close to tropical rainforest and wildlife will give the memory of a lifetime. The ethnic cultures and lifestyles are uniquely found in Sarawak. Met buyers who are interested in experiential holidays.

Zahira Tahir, CEO & Founder, Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism
Universal Holidays Travel & Tourism is a B2B Inbound Travel Company that is specialized in FIT, MICE and Tailor-Made Solutions. During the pandemic, we decided to invest in technology and expand our product offering. We now give a complete solution for Malaysia and Bali and has reliable partners in Thailand and Singapore. Middle East and The GCC region is an extremely important part of Malaysia Travel Business.

Ahmad Faizal Iskandar bin Mohd Ghazali, Director of Sales Wholesale Sunway Resorts
Sunway showcased in GTS 4.0 our latest transformation of Sunway Resort hotel. We deliberately closed and made a US$60 million upgrades and transformation to be relevant and attractive to our guests. The transformation is about the improvement and enhancement of Sunway Resort facilities to ensure our guests will have joyous and enjoyable time. Sunway City Kuala Lumpur after over two years of undergoing renovation, reimagining and transformation works is eager to make a comeback, re-entry to give the best hospitality ever for our customers.

Buyers speak at GTS

Sanaf Rahman, Travel Consultant, Aldar Travel & Tours Bahrain
Gulf Travel Show created a platform over the past two years to connect with suppliers from various parts of the world in one safe virtual space. Every edition of the GTS has brought in different suppliers to meet, engage and collaborate. Another interesting fact is insightful panel discussions and presentations by experts.

Alan Orong, Senior Travel Manager, South Travel DMCC
The Gulf Travel Show is really a good avenue for us, being a travel agent, to reconnect with our business partners in Malaysia, who due to the COVID restrictions, are still unable to travel physically. Furthermore, through this platform I was able to get updates, and one of those is that Malaysia will be opening its borders.