Regional destinations a hot favourite at Matta fair

GEORGE TOWN: Regional destinations are a hot favourite with Malaysians, said Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang.
"What we can see is that Malaysians will travel according to their budget, if they can't afford long haul destinations such as Europe, they will travel domestically and to other Asean countries.
"In this Matta fair especially we can see that the trend is towards cheaper destinations such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia,Thailand and Japan," he said during a press conference after the official opening of the Penang Matta Fair 2018 at the Straits Quay Convention Centre (SQCC) here.
Tan said in view of this trend, Matta will promote various domestic tour packages.
He said Matta is expecting about RM2 million in sales from domestic tour packages during the three-day event which begins today.
The official opening ceremony was officiated by Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, who represented Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
During the ceremony, Matta also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Penang Asia Pacific Masters Games (APMG) to promote Penang as the venue for the very first Asia-Pacific Masters Games from Sept 5 to 7, later this year.
Matta will be promoting the games to its domestic and international markets, by providing its expertise on marketing, transportation services, pre and post tours during and after the games.
The signing ceremony was conducted between APMG Board of Directors Datuk Danny Goon and Matta president Datuk Tan Kok Liang, while Zairil witnessed the ceremony.