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Malaysia Popular As Tourist Destination With Hong Kong Residents
The jump in tourist arrivals in Malaysia from Hong Kong last year is a pointer to the continuing popularity of Malaysia as a tourist destination amongst the residents of this Special Administrative Region, as this former British colony is now referred to.
After recording a decline in tourist arrivals from Hong Kong in 2003, when the devastating SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic temporarily brought tourism traffic to and from that city to a screeching halt, Malaysia again posted a substantial increase last year.
Malaysia had clocked nearly 73,000 tourist arrivals from Hong Kong in 2003, down from 116,409 in the previous year.
This 38.1 percent decline was attributed to the SARS epidemic.
However, things are looking much better now, as reflected in the dramatic surge in the number of telephone enquiries and visitors walking into the Hong Kong office of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia).
"We are now witnessing an upsurge in the level of interest by Hong Kong travellers in Malaysia," said Noridah Kamarudin, the director of the Hong Kong office of Tourism Malaysia, in an interview with Bernama.
Noridah spoke of Hong Kong as an "exciting place" to be in.
"People here have a strong international exposure. They like to travel," she maintained.
Promoting tourism amongst Hong Kong's residents can also be challenging work, given the fact that one has to sell the destination to a constituency of discerning travellers.
Noridah also receives tourism promotion groups representing certain Malaysian states.
For example, she jointly organised a few days back a two-day diving seminar with the Sabah Tourism Board.
"We had a good attendance at the seminar with a turnout of over 600 participants, most of whom were professional divers, diving operators, diving shops and divers' associations.
"The 600 and odd participants at the seminar reflected a 50 per cent increase from the 300 participants we had in 2004, suggesting that Hong Kong's diving community has a strong interest in Malaysia as a diving destination," she claimed.
But Noridah also acknowledged that greater connectivity between Hong Kong and certain popular holiday resorts of Malaysia was urgently needed so that one could translate this interest into practical tourism business.
"There is demand, for instance, in connections to Kuching in the state of Sarawak ... and we are looking into this," she said.
Some of the popular Malaysian destinations with Hong Kong tourists include Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Sabah and Sarawak.
"Hong Kong travellers are very trendy people. Some of the other resorts that enjoy popularity with them are Redang (on the east coast of Malaysia) and Perhentian.
"Langkawi is very popular with Hong Kong tourists, thanks to the musical film `Anna and the King' which was shot there with Hong Kong star Chow Yun Fat in the lead role. And Redang has been catapulted to a popular holiday destination amongst Hong Kong travellers because the popular film `Summer Holidays' with actress Sammi Cheng was shot there," Noridah explained.
She said her office is trying to persuade the city's thriving film industry to shoot films in Malaysia which offers "excellent locales" noted for their colourful and natural beauty.
Andy Lau, a Hong Kong film producer, was going to scout for locales in Malaysia for one of his future productions, but he had to temporarily put his plans on hold.
"We are following up with him," said the resolute Noridah.
Hong Kong's ATV Chinese television channel is also looking at Malaysia for shooting a documentary on its diverse cuisines, probably, in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Ipoh, Penang and Langkawi.
The meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) business segment is also becoming a money-spinning sector for Malaysia's tourism strategists.
"About 10 percent of our targeted travellers are, actually, MICE corporate travellers. We recently had a meeting with the Hong Kong Travel Agents' Association (HKTAA) which has agreed to hold its annual conference in Kuala Lumpur in October this year. Some 150 members of the HKTAA are expected to participate in the event. There will also be a few incentive groups visiting Kota Kinabalu this year.
We have targeted organisations such as the Hong Kong Jockeys' Club, private corporations, etc," Noridah said.
Her office recently carried out a mass direct mailing campaign to targeted organisations and received an "unexpectedly good response" from some of the recipients who expressed interest in going to Malaysia.
Noridah said that based on research and market surveys commissioned by her office, it was discovered that dissemination of information had not been carried out effectively in the past.
"We are now launching a user-friendly website which will provide a wide range of information about Malaysia. The website will be in English and Cantonese which is widely spoken in Hong Kong and Macau, a former Portuguese enclave," she added.
Hong Kong 04/05/2005
