Malaysia records over 250,000 tourists arriving, leaving as of April 4

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 250,000 international tourists were recorded to have entered and left Malaysia through the main entry points as of April 4, following the reopening of the country's borders on April 1.

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) deputy secretary-general (Culture), Datuk Saraya Arbi, said based on the statistics, the ministry also expected international tourist arrivals to Malaysia to continue to increase from time to time.

She said this after distributing 150 food packs to Bernama and BernamaTV staff in conjunction with the ministry's Iftar programme.

Saraya also said that the ministry would highlight several new programmes to attract more international tourists to the country.

"There are differences that we want to provide to (international) tourists to come to Malaysia, and if possible we do not want to provide similar programmes. They need to be different compared with what we have had before.

"Recently, the ministry held IFTAR@KL, held in Jalan Raja, and also the Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia 2022 programme which was held in Kuching, Sarawak, and most likely there will be more new programmes that will be highlighted," she said.

Previously, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, was reported to have said that Malaysia was expected to attract two million international tourists this year, with RM8.6 billion in tourism revenue, following the reopening of the country's borders on April 1.

-- BERNAMA