KUALA LUMPUR: The business events industry will help Malaysia achieve its new target of attracting 9.2 million tourist arrivals with RM26.8 billion in tourism receipts this year, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

She said 79 business events are in the calendar in the second half of 2022 and these include the Malaysia Business Events Week and World Tourism Conference (WTC 2022) in Sabah.

Besides that, she said aggressive efforts to increase tourist arrivals from India and Brunei are also seen as lending a helping hand to boost the country's tourism sector.

"We are optimistic and confident to reach this target. For example, this month itself Malaysia will receive around 500 tourists from India," she told a press conference here, today.

Earlier, Nancy had witnessed a Memorandum of Collaboration (MOC) signing between Tourism Malaysia and Qatar Airways, with the primary objectives being to extend networking and strengthen strategic cooperation between the two parties.


Meanwhile, Nancy also said Malaysia is looking forward to China's border reopening in October because China is the highest international tourists contributor to Malaysia so far.

She also noted that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) is optimistic about achieving higher numbers of tourist arrivals especially with the country's easing COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOP), making Malaysia one of the most hassle-free countries for travellers to visit.

Nancy pointed out that country has surpassed the initial target of two million international tourist arrivals since the reopening of borders in April, with RM8.6 billion in tourism receipts.

Thus, she said the ministry revised the target to now welcome 9.2 million international tourists this year

Touching on the MOC with Qatar Airways, Nancy said the collaboration will aim to further strengthen Malaysia's appeal as a preferred travel destination among travellers in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

"I strongly believe that this promotional collaboration will contribute to increase the air traffic flow, from the medium-haul and long-haul markets to Malaysia, while providing a 5-star experience to tourists, who choose Malaysia as a travel destination through the service offered by Qatar Airways," she added.

The MOC was signed by Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Zainuddin Abdul Wahab and Qatar Airways Country Manager Datuk Muzammil Mohamad.

-- BERNAMA