Tourism Malaysia to shut down four offices abroad, says Nazri
BERNAMA
PADANG RENGAS: At least four Tourism Malaysia offices abroad will be closed this year, following discontinuation of Malaysia Airlines flights to the cities involved.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the affected offices were based in New York, United States; Perth, Australia; Stockholm, Sweden and Johannesburg, South Africa.
"As a result of Malaysia Airlines Berhad's (MAB) discontinuation of flights to these cities, it will be difficult for Tourism Malaysia to continue operating there," he told reporters after attending a meet-the-people session held at the Dewan Kampung Tanah Merah here today.
Mohamed Nazri said in his opinion, the closure of the offices would enable his ministry to focus on other offices in Europe, as well as plan for new ones in China and India.
He said the ministry would focus on major European countries, like Britain, Germany and France whose citizens visit Malaysia annually.
"According to the 2015 statistics, tourists from Britain topped the list at 400,000, followed by Germany (40,000) and France (50,000)," he added.
Elaborating further, Mohamed Nazri, who is also Padang Rengas MP said the closure of the four offices could save the ministry about RM4.5 million in annual operating costs.
He said the discontinuation of flights caused by MAB's restructuring had also affected the volume of international tourists visiting Malaysia.
"Last year, we expected to have 30.3 million foreign tourists and spent RM103 billion but we did not reach the target due to several factors, the most evident being the absence of flights. - BERNAMA
