KUALA LUMPUR, 27 June – Malaysia’s Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) aims to attract 900,000 Muslim tourists this year, said minister Nancy Shukri.
The minister said Malaysia must work hard to achieve this target through aggressive and proactive promotions as a Muslim-friendly tourist destination.
“Following the reopening of the country’s borders on April 1, Motac has held a series of working visits to promote Malaysia’s tourism products including Islamic tourism abroad.
“Apart from that, Motac will identify additional activities that can be carried out at 6,000 mosques nationwide as an added value to existing promotions,” she said after launching the 2022 Islamic Tourism Week organised by the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) on Friday.
It is currently running until July 3, 2022.
A total of 460,000 Muslim tourists have arrived in Malaysia as of April this year. The country has a strategic target of attracting 230 million Muslim tourists by 2028 with a projected revenue of RM992.5 billion (US$225 billion).
Nancy said the programme is to showcase Malaysia as a diverse Islamic tourism destination with Muslim-friendly touristic experiences.
Events lined up throughout the week include art and cultural exhibitions, travel deals, attractive spa and wellness experience, self-development retreat, food and beverage promotions and more.
She noted that recently Malaysia topped the travel and tourism list in Dinar Standard’s State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2022 (SGIE Report).
“This further proves that Malaysia has the right ecosystem to fulfil Muslim travellers’ needs,” she added.
Meanwhile, ITC DG Datuk Mohmed Razip Hasan said the Islamic Tourism Week provides a platform for industry players to introduce their Muslim-friendly products and services.
ITC also will showcase mosques as tourist attractions such as the national mosque and more.
“This is a unique attraction as it binds the Islamic architecture, design, heritage and the culture.
“We aim to replicate the concept of the Great Mosque of Cordoba, one of the most celebrated in Spain,” Mohmed Razip said.
Earlier this month, the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) released its new rankings granting Malaysia the number one spot as the “Top Muslim-Friendly Destination of the Year (OIC)” at the Halal in Travel Awards.
Malaysia claimed the first spot in the Global Muslim Travel Index for years from 2015 to 2019 and then in 2021 and 2022, as it provides Muslim travellers with easy access to all the muslim friendly facilities while having world class tourism attractions and natural wonders.
Source: ASWAQ/The Malaysian Reserve/Agencies
