Malaysia posted an impressive overall tourism growth in 2012, capping off a string of tourism accolades that placed the nation in the global limelight.
It managed to attract US$308 million in tourist receipts last year from tourists visiting the country for major sports, art, lifestyle and entertainment events.
Under the Economic Transformation Programme, Malaysia has targeted to achieve 36 million tourist arrivals and US$60 billion in tourism receipts by 2020. One of it is by securing major events.
In line with the focus to secure more major events for Malaysia, Malaysia Major Events is the new brand created under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, to be on par with global events bureaus.
Tony Nagamaiah, General Manager of Malaysia Major Events said, “With the re-branding exercise we developed over the year, we are confident that Malaysia Major Events will achieve greater milestones in growing the country as the destination of choice for major events within the Asia Pacific region, where it is expected to contribute US$0.134 billion in gross national income and create 8,000 temporary jobs to the nation by 2020.
Under the Economic Transformation Programme, Malaysia has targeted to achieve 36 million tourist arrivals and US$60 billion in tourism receipts by 2020.
After hosting international sporting events for more than a decade now, Malaysia has definitely caught global attention, said Nagamaiah in a statement.
Malaysia Major Events will be the catalyst in securing major sporting events bids for Malaysia and aims to do so at the SportAccord Convention 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Malaysia’s presence at the convention further cements its position as home to some of the biggest sports events in the Asia Pacific region such as the Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix, MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix, Le Tour de Langkawi, the international leg of PGA Tour, ATP and WTA tournaments, and the tour destinations of some of the biggest football clubs in the world.