Tourism Malaysia organized the special appreciation dinner to acknowledge the immense support and cooperation received from the members of the media and tourism industry players for the year 2019. The event took place at The Glasshouse, Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur on December 13^th.

Some 350 guests from the media industry as well as local tourism industry players comprising editors, journalist, bloggers and social media content editors along with hoteliers, tourism associations, travel agents and tourism product owners marked their presence at the event.

Deputy Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik made the announcement at the event saying “As the clock strikes midnight and the New Year is upon us, we will be heading to various air, land and sea entry points to welcome the arrival of the first tourists to Malaysia in 2020. The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture himself will be at KLIA to welcome a group of tourists arriving on the morning flight,".

He said  “This milestone event has been in the planning for almost two years, with the expectation that it will boost Malaysia’s position and branding as a must-visit tourist destination.

“We should be proud to showcase to visitors from all over the world that Malaysia is a peace-loving nation with multi-cultural society, comprising of more than 200 ethnic communities who have lived in harmony all these years,”

He thanked all the state governments for their support in the ministry's domestic and international promotions and for initiating their own Visit State campaigns to ensure an impactful and successful Visit Malaysia 2020.