More tourists coming to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year have increased, according to stakeholders in the industry.
Surveys with hoteliers, tour operators, and airlines had revealed this trend, said Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (pix) today.
"We found that the first quarter of 2016 has shown a continued rising trend of arrivals from several markets including China," Nazri said.
His ministry is also targeting 30.5 million tourist arrivals for this year, contributing RM103 billion worth of tourist receipts, he added.
Nazri was attending the Malaysia Hotels Association (MAH) Gala Dinner and Hotel Employees Awards at Hotel Istana.
He said the tourism industry relied on the hotel industry to provide professional, quality services to tourists which would make for a memorable experience.
"There is nothing like a comfortable hotel room after a long day," he said.
Nazri added that the government had set a goal to see 36 million tourist arrivals, contributing RM168 billion worth of tourist receipts by 2020.
MAH president Sam Cheah said the awards were a good way of acknowledging and rewarding role models in the industry which would set a benchmark for their peers to provide quality services.