The promotional strategy of Visit Malaysia Year (VM2020) will be modified keeping up with the situation of the country following the Covid-19 infection.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the spread of Covid-19 had impacted the country and the international tourism industry which  needed an effective initiative and strategy to ensure the mission of attracting tourists is not affected.

For the purpose, he said the ministry had called a large section of Tourism Malaysia marketing managers from abroad to share their views and formulate the latest measures to combat the effects of the infection.

He said “Currently, our primary focus is on the Covid-19 outbreak in China which can and has affected the local and global tourism sector. However, the disaster which hit mainland China can be a factor affecting the arrival of tourists from China to Malaysia and thus affecting VM2020,”

Mohamaddin said China is a traditional market important to Malaysia as it is one of the top 10 countries contributing to the national economy via the tourism sector.He said there is a need for effective strategy and plan of action to rehabilitate VM2020 campaign especially after Covid-19.

Mohamaddin said for the time being, Tourism Malaysia marketing managers should focus on markets not affected by the outbreak such as Asean, India, West Asia as well as South Korea.