KUALA LUMPUR, 29 January 2018: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) President Datuk Tan Kok Liang, says the new Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY2020) logo launched by Minister of Tourism and Culture, YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz at the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) 2018 in Chiang Mai, Thailand should not be the main focus.
“The new VMY2020 logo, which includes Malaysia’s best-known icons are closely associated with promotions of popular destinations and enjoyable holiday experiences. The depiction of wildlife in the new logo is necessary for quick recognition while raising awareness of the importance that eco-tourism can contribute towards development for rural communities.”
Tan added “The tagline ‘Travel. Enjoy. Respect’ for the new logo is a great reminder in promoting responsible and sustainable tourism in Malaysia, which is in line with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)'s goals.”
“More importantly, close collaborations with the private sector at home and abroad are crucial in achieving the target set under the Malaysian Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP), which is to attract 36 million visitors and RM168 billion tourism receipts in 2020.
“It will require a massive increase of more than ten million visitors within the next three years if total number of arrivals for last year is less than 26 million. This is particularly challenging when visitor arrivals figure for 2017 is close to that of 2013.”
“Apart from promotions and private sector collaborations, such as increasing flights to Malaysia, government policies such as granting visa-free entry for up to 30 days for China and India nationals could see an immediate boost to visitor arrivals”, concluded Tan.
DATUK TAN KOK LIANG
President MATTA
Term 2017 – 2019