“We welcome the Honourable Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia to New York city,” says a billboard at the Times Square, in New York.
The message was by the United States Tour Operators Association and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) New York Chapter.
According to Ahmad Johanif Mohd Ali, a Tourism Malaysia senior official based in this capital, both associations had told him that the message would appear every day between September 20 and September 30.
Apart from the message, it also showed the picture of Najib.
There are eight slots of such advertisements for every hour with each slot lasting for 30 seconds, said Ahmad Johanif who is the Tourism Malaysia vice-president for Eastern USA, Caribbean, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“They put up the advertisement because they know the prime minister is in town for the United Nations General Assembly,” he said.
Times Square is a major commercial intersection at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, stretching from West 42nd Street to West 47th Street.
It is one of the world’s most visited tourist attraction, hosting close to 40 million visitors annually with 330,000 people passing through the square daily. – Bernama, September 24, 2014