UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION
Tour Hebdo (www.pros-du-tourisme.com) 18 January 2011
Headlines
DESTINATION
MALAYSIA ENTERS A NEW DYNAMIC ERA
2011 starts under favourable auspices for Malaysia’s tourism office that just renovated its premises. Since December 21 last year, the passers-by on rue des Pyramides in Paris first arrondissement can discover there a bright, modern and functional place.
The renovated office is a real invitation to travel thanks to its interior design focusing on the environment theme with green and white colours, wooden panels sculpted by Malaysian artist Mr. Haiza, a wall depicting the Malaysian jungle, etc. ‘We want to attract more French tourists to Malaysia and it is important to have visible premises so that people know we are here to give them information’, commented Tourism Office Deputy Director Maizatul Liza Mukhtar.
This initiative aims at giving the already well-developed French market a boost. 110,054 French tourists visited Malaysia in 2009 that is a 27.9% increase from the previous year. According to the latest figures available until August 2010, 78,183 French visitors, that is 1.8% more than the previous year over the same period, have visited Malaysia.
The tourism office is currently working on a new website and will take part in the following tourism fairs: Mahana & Tourissima in Lille from 21 to 23 January, Lyon from 4 to 6 February, Toulouse from 11 to 13 February and in the Mulhouse FestiVitas from 28 to 30 January.
More information on Tourism Malaysia website
Tourmag (www.tourmag.com) 19 January 2011
MALAYSIA, THE PERFECT ECO-TOURISM DESTINATION
The tourism office of Malaysia celebrated last night the renovation of its premises opened to the public and located at the heart of Paris in the Opéra district. Everything has been thought up to give the visitors a first emotion. The décor alone is an open invitation to a trip where nature is queen. Malaysia opened its tourism office in Paris fifteen years ago with two people only working there. Today the office employs eight people full time.
For several years, the country has been working for the conservation of its fauna, flora and its natural areas. Eco-tourism is winning its spurs there and the jungle on Borneo Island perfectly illustrates it. There are many other attractions on the [1]Malaysian peninsula such as its futuristic capital city Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and its colonial past, Penang peninsula and Langkawi beaches…
At the end of November 2010, Malaysia recorded a total number of tourists of 22,461,325 up 4.4% from November 2008.
France is the third largest market in Europe following Germany and the United Kingdom. At the end of November 2010, the number of French tourists who visited Malaysia reached 103,507, up 2% from November 2008. Bornéo Island meets with a near universal approval. Indeed over 80% of the French tourists visiting Malaysia go there to discover Borneo.
Michèle SANI