More than 20 million tourists in first 9 months of 2019

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~

AirAsia stops selling duty-free cigarettes with immediate effect

AirAsia stops selling duty-free cigarettes with immediate effect



Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (fifth from right) at the launch of the AirAsia No Smoking and Dengue Awareness Campaign at RedQ. -Bernama

SEPANG (Bernama): AirAsia has ceased the sale of duty-free cigarettes on board as well as on its website with immediate effect, says AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes.

Speaking at the launch of the AirAsia No Smoking and Dengue Awareness Campaign at RedQ here on Monday (Nov 11), he said the airline has implemented a company wide smoke-and vape-free environment at 120 offices and stations in the Asia-Pacific region.

He added that the airline's headquarters is now a 100% smoke-free building.

Speaking at a press conference after the launch, Fernandes said tobacco sales generated RM9 million in annual revenue for the AirAsia group.

"AirAsia is also looking at stopping the sales of other products such as alcohol. It is going to be a bit tricky, but we are not rushing it. There is no time frame for that, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said AirAsia is the first airline in the country to implement such policies.

Speaking at the event, he said the ministry will present the Blue Ribbon Campaign's Outstanding Achievement Award to Fernandes for AirAsia's anti-smoking campaign during the campaign's awards presentation ceremony on Nov 22.

According to Dr Dzulkefly, some 23 percent of Malaysians are smokers and about 20,000 deaths due to smoking-related diseases are recorded annually. - Bernama