To achieve the Visit Malaysia 2020’s (VM2020) target of 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil in tourism receipts, Tourism Malaysia is doubling up local and international promotion as part of its efforts to achieve the desired target set.

As a result of which, Tourism Malaysia also partnered with hotels such as Hard Rock Hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Amari Hotels & Resorts, Anantara Hotels & Resorts and One & Only Resorts.

“Some of the initiatives were rolled out earlier this year, such as optimising the use of information and communication technology and engaging in smart partnerships with industry players” said Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general (planning) Zulkifly Md Said.

Zulkifly Md Said said in his speech at the Tourism Malaysia Media Night at R&F Sales Gallery that “Optimising information and communication technology are an engaging approach in promotion, publicity and advertising efforts while social media is one of the best platforms for promoting Malaysia.

“We have initiated various smart partnerships with our industry players aside from leveraging on the presence of international hotel brands who continue to place their trust by setting up their hotels in Malaysia”.

He also added that to encourage the familiar participants, Tourism Malaysia had even partnered with private operators along with the Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry, Tourism Johor, Legoland Malaysia and R&F Sales Gallery.

Zulkifly also pointed out that according to the statistical reports of June 20, Tourism Malaysia has 422,632 Twitter followers, 45.7 million views on YouTube, 3.3 million Facebook followers and 76,684 Instagram followers which are great statistical number according to the tourism standards.

He also added that “As for 2019, in this first six months, Malaysia recorded a positive tourist arrival growth of 6.8%, registering a total of 13,354,575 tourist arrivals compared to 12,730,368 in the same period last year”.

Also gearing up for Visit Johor 2020, a lot of creative and unique events are coming up with different packages for 2020 said Johor tourism, women, family and community development chairman Liow Cai Tung.

“We are trying to pump up the online content on Johor’s tourism products and tourism the sector to create an even stronger online presence.

She said, “We want more information on Johor’s attractions to be available online through search portals and social media channels”.