Malaysia records more than 20 million tourists in first 9 months of 2019 Malaysia saw positive growth in the tourism sector in the first half of this year, boosted by stronger international tourist arrivals. International tourist arrivals stood at 20,109,203 tourists between January and September, an increase of 3.7 per cent, compared to 19,386,115 visitors during the same period last year. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the top 10 countries with the highest contribution of tourist arrivals was Singapore with 7,868,755 visitors, followed by Indonesia (2,792,776); China (2,413,956); Thailand (1,442,224); Brunei (929,789); India (539,167); South Korea (508,080); Vietnam (323,393); Japan (321,283) and the Philippines (317,294). “Tourist receipts for the same period in 2019 reached RM66.14 billion compared to RM61.85 billion for the same period in 2018, indicating an increase of 6.9 per cent. “The main contributors to the tourist expenditure were Singapore (RM16.3 billion), China (RM12.8 billion), Indonesia (RM8.8 billion), Thailand (RM2.8 billion) and India (RM2.5 billion). “Per capita expenditure for the period of January to September also grew by 3.1 per cent from RM3,190.5 to RM3,289.3,” he said today in announcing the third quarter performance of the tourism sector. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi left). - NSTP/LUQMAN HAKIM ZUBIR. The short haul market, Mohamaddin said, had retained its position as the largest contributor of tourists to Malaysia with a share of 68.7 per cent. The contribution of tourists from the medium haul market was 21.6 per cent, while the share of tourists from the long haul market was 9.7 per cent, he added. “The highest per capita according to market distance saw Saudi Arabia recording the most for long haul at RM11,394.4; China at RM5,301.5 for medium haul and Vietnam at RM3,356.3 for short haul.” The minister also said the haze which had shrouded Malaysia and neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Brunei had affected the momentum of tourist arrivals. “I believe the tourist arrivals could be better without the haze.” Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said he believed that Malaysia would be able to achieve this year’s tourist arrival target of 28 million. He said there would be a significant number of tourist arrivals towards the year end, especially in December from countries experiencing winter. Malaysia normally records about 2.5 million tourist arrivals in Dec. On tourist arrivals from China, Musa said Malaysia was still favoured by visitors from the country. ~New Straits Times~
Decision on Airbnb next year, says Tourism D-G
Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said to address the problem, the committee would continue to discuss the issue to find suitable solution. -BERNAMA
The task force on short-term residential accommodation, Airbnb will announce its decision by early next year, Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said today.
He said the task force was set up to regulate Airbnb accommodations nationwide and would take note of examples from other countries such as France, Singapore and Japan.
“We will look into the issue. What we have implemented throu\gh the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and the agency under the Housing and Local Government Ministry, is that we already set up a task force to look at what other countries have implemented in terms of Airbnb-type rentals.
“We expect to announce the decision early next year and it needs to be regulated. For example, in some locations, Airbnb accommodations are allowed but not in the big cities where there are hotels available,” he told reporters after launching the Visit Malaysia (VMY) 2020 Kick Off conference here today.
He said this in response to complaints made by hoteliers who claimed of experiencing a decline in occupancy rate despite the high number of tourists arriving in the country as most of them were choosing Airbnb.
Musa said to address the problem, the committee would continue to discuss the issue to find suitable solution.
“The concept of Airbnb in Europe and the US are different than it is in Asia. The Airbnb accommodations that I used to stay at, either in Europe or in the US, the guests stayed with the hosts, and we already have this concept here for the past 30 years and we call it homestay.
Homestay is more for the experiences while Airbnb is more of an accommodation. Only in Malaysia, the visitors are not staying with the owner and this will be regulated,” he said.
He said the matter would be looked at as a whole as there were several joint management bodies had disallowed Airbnb to operate in the condominium building as it was viewed as disruption.
Meanwhile, commenting on the conference, he said it was launched to further promote the promotional activities of the VMY 2020 campaign in the northern states. -- Bernama
3 killed, five injured in two-vehicle collision in Mersing
Three people were killed and five others injured in a two-car collision--BERNAMA
MERSING: Three people were killed and five others injured in a two-car collision at Km15 of Jalan Mersing-Endau here, on Saturday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Toyota Vios passengers Nur Ainil Jannah, 22 and her father, Abdul Manan Ahmad, 59; and Honda City passenger Mahmud Md Aksan, 71.
Those injured in the 5.30pm crash were Honda City driver Mohd Ruzaimie Mahmud, 32, his two children, Fatima Az Zahra, 3 and Muhammad Ammar Nafis, 5; and Siti Soraya Sabtu, 32 and Siti Kalsom, 63.
The accident is believed to have occurred when Abdul Manan, who was en route from here to Endau, lost control of his vehicle, which veered into the opposite lane and crashed into the oncoming Honda City.
“The bodies were sent to the Mersing Hospital for post-mortems.
“The injured were rushed to the same hospital for treatment,” Mersing police chief Assistant Superintendent Mohd Nor Mohd Isa said in a statement.
~New Straits Times~
Mersing entrepreneur plans to market pufferfish souvenirs overseas MERSING, Oct 10 -- Having produced decorative items based on pufferfish for the past three years, entrepreneur Kassim Hassan has set his eyes on exporting his craft overseas. Kassim, 57, from Kampung Bahagia here, has produced more than 3,000 decorative items using dried, inflated pufferfish, as well as those made from coconut shells, including pots, stationery and key chains. The entrepreneur, who received guidance from the Mersing small and medium enterprises (SME) inherited his father’s artistic and creative talents and began selling his products actively for the past three years. “Most of my customers are from around Mersing as they would come to order or buy directly at home, but I also sell my products at the premises (of other traders) located in the tourist areas of Air Papan near here, as well as in Langkawi, Kedah. “I wish to expand my business, not only for the domestic market but also to the neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei, as part of adding cheer to the Visit Johor Year 2020 campaign,” he said when met by Bernama at his home here today. Describing the process of turning the poisonous pufferfish into a decorative item was hard, Kassim said he was also exposed to danger as he had to carefully remove the fish bones and internal organs without using gloves. “This is because I find it difficult to gut the fish wearing gloves despite possible injuries because the thorns are very sharp. “After it is gutted, I will place the balloon inside before sewing the stomach again and then blow the balloon to inflate it, before hanging it to dry for a month to make sure the fish is completely drained of any slime and to rid of any fishy smell,” he said. The father of two also said that the method of producing a pufferfish-based product was complicated as it would take a long time to complete, apart from demanding his full attention. “It is difficult to produce, but I hope that it can be competitive enough and become a tourist attraction to Mersing, considering that not many places have this product,” he said. Kassim said decorative items were produced based on customers’ demands including table lamps, lanterns and souvenirs of various sizes and they were priced at RM25 and could fetch up to RM300. However, Kassim said currently the sales were a bit slow as he was busy with the construction of a workshop and gallery around his house to showcase his work, using his own capital. “I take this initiative to accommodate the presence of a large number of visitors as the existing space is quite limited, thus providing a more conducive place for them to witness how the craft being produced closely. “Besides, I have also received requests from teachers and lecturers from institutions of higher learning asking me to share my knowledge and experiences with their students,” he said, adding that he also received visit from Indonesian students. Recently, Kassim also received a RM20,000 grant from the Perbadanan Usahawan Johor and expressed his hope that more relevant parties would be able to provide him with financial assistance and equipment including machinery to further expand the business. -- BERNAMA
