Tourism Malaysia concluded a tour of Saudi Arabia as part of a new strategy to promote Malaysia as a prominent tourist destination in the global market.

Malaysia reopened its borders to international travelers on April 1.

The tour to the Kingdom aimed at attracting international tourists and promoting a strong recovery in the Malaysian tourism industry.

From May 21-29, Malaysian tourism officials visited the Saudi cities of Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah.

Dato Seri Ramlan Ibrahim, chairman of Tourism Malaysia, arrived in the Kingdom with a delegation of travel agents, hotel owners, resort owners and government tourism authorities.

The authority’s representatives met with tour operators, media representatives and senior Saudia executives to review facilities and attractions in Malaysia, and to showcase the possibilities offered by the Malaysian tourism sector.

The Saudi market contributes the highest per capita to Malaysia in terms of tourism spending. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi tourists in Malaysia spent an average of 11,660 ringgits ($2,673) over a stay of 10.8 nights.

In 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic, Malaysia received 397,726 tourists from the Middle East and North Africa region. Saudi Arabia ranked first in the Malaysian market with 121,444 tourists — equivalent to 30 percent of arrivals from the West Asia and North Africa regions. That figure was an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the previous year.

During his visit to Saudi Arabia, the head of Tourism Malaysia said: “We are happy to receive more Arab tourists in Malaysia, and Saudi tourists in particular who have been bound by strong ties to Malaysia throughout the past years.”