For the second consecutive time in the virtual Gulf Travel Show of 31 March and 1 April, Tourism Malaysia committed to partnership as diamond partners.

Tourism Malaysia will have its pavilion with 13 booths consisting of Tourism Malaysia Dubai, Tourism Malaysia Jeddah, Tourism Malaysia India with three DMC/Tour Operator partners, and seven hotels and resorts from different areas in the country.

This platform will enable them to take the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of all travellers when the borders are open.

“The India and Middle East market has been a key source market for us mainly due to the historical and traditional ties we have with them. Summer has always been a key Middle East market driver as we receive many travellers during this period whilst the month of May is the peak for Indian tourists"Manoharan Periasamy, Senior Director of International Promotion Asia & Africa Division – Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, said.

Over the past year, the pandemic however did hinder the situation, but now we are preparing once again to welcome our friends from India and the Middle East to a safer destination which would provide them what they require in terms of a secure, family friendly holiday escape."he added.

"Our partnership for the second consecutive time with the virtual event Gulf Travel Show provides us the opportunity to renew partnerships and seek new connections that will help us when the time is right,” he said.

Shahrin Mokhtar, Tourism Director Malaysia – Dubai said that Tourism Malaysia Dubai, Jeddah and India are uniting with major tourism partners, in the virtual Gulf Travel Show 2021, to promote Malaysia.

The Diamond partner of Tourism Malaysia in GTS 2021 is to communicate the "Malaysia Truly Asia" brand further to the travel fraternities in Mena and India.

This time the plan is to show Malaysia with ten selected tourism partners who will participate during the two-day virtual show with the Middle East & India potential buyers.

"This a great opportunity for us to interact with the industry players and plan for the New Normal once Malaysia opens its borders to welcome tourists. For this year, we are promoting the hashtag  #WeMissYou to the market indicating that we miss the tourists coming to our beautiful country and can't wait to see them again at the Malaysian shore soon,"Shahrin said.

Travel agents who visit the Tourism Malaysia Pavilion during the two-day GTS 2021 virtual event will be join lucky draw for hotel stays and holiday packages in Malaysia. 

In addition to being a partner to the Diamond Tourism Malaysia GTS 2021, Tourism Malaysia conducted an interactive virtual media conference on March 31 morning for 77 registered media from Middle East and India.