Tourism Ministry targets 33.1 million tourists by year-end

PUTRAJAYA: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry is targeting 33.1 million tourist arrivals by year-end.
Its minister Mohamaddin Ketapi said today the ministry will conduct aggressive promotion and marketing activities to ensure the target is achieved.
"We will continue in our efforts to strengthen our culture, arts and heritage at the international level through programmes and meetings held with Asean and Unesco.
"We will also collaborate with countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Singapore in order to have a few cultural presentations here. These collaborations will strengthen understanding and reinforce our partnership between the nations mentioned," he said in his opening speech during the ministry's monthly assembly held here.
Also present was the ministry's secretary-general Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah and deputy minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
Earlier, Muhammad Bakhtiar said he hopes the Malaysian Association of Hotels and Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners will beef up their services, especially those who are frontliners.
He spoke of an incident where his request for snacks at a 5-star hotel was rebuffed.
"I was in plain clothes with a friend when the incident occurred.
"I'm not looking for preferential treatment but the incident gave me a general outlook on hospitality. Maybe it was just an isolated incident. However, it's important to uphold our standards," he said.
He proposed for hoteliers to look at Thailand and Indonesia' form of hospitality when welcoming guests.