Tourism Malaysia launches the ' Malaysia Tourist and B2B Session ' on Wednesday, March 4, at the Landmark Hotel in Vientiana, in an attempt to improve promotions for the ASEAN market.

A team of AirAsia, the operators of Vouk Hotel Management, Sunway Lost World and Sunway Lagoon; Columbia Leisure and Asia Delights, representing the Malaysian tourism industry joined the seminar.

The session was attended by over one hundred local delegates from Vientiane travel agents, organizations and members of the media.

The Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, Mohd Aini bin Atan, Director of Tourist Malaysia's International Promotion Division (ASEAN), Noran Ujang and representatives of travel agencies also participated in the event.

Noran invited guests for the launch and thanked the travel agencies and the media for their commitment to Malaysia in Laos and its continuous promotion.

"I am pleased to see the support of industry players from Vientiane and hope that the relations between Laos and Malaysia will be further strengthened in light of the Covid 19 outbreak which threatens the international tourism industry," he said.

As one of the key markets in ASEAN for the losses as a result of Covid-9's weakening impact on the tourism industry, the Tourist Minister of the Arts and Culture and Tourism Malaysia described ASEAN countries as the key market.

The event served as a forum for networking and collaboration especially in the context of the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) campaign for the creation of packages and promotional efforts.

In addition to the increase in the number of Laos arrivals, the programme, which had a long-standing partnership with the countries of ASEAN, was also implemented to strengthen cooperation between Laos and Malaysia.

Malaysia received 20,959 visitors from Laos from January to September 2019, representing a substantial 13.8 percent increase over the same period in 2018. Over 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100 billion in tourist receptions are to be expected for the VM2020 in Malaysia.